Jacob Blake's father says his son has '8 holes' in his body and is paralyzed from the waist down
Incident Response/Reuters
Jacob Blake was shot at least seven times by the police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday after officers were called to investigate a "domestic incident."
Blake was rushed to a Milwaukee hospital, where he underwent surgery to save his life.
Blake's father told the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday that his son was paralyzed from the waist down.
Jacob Blake's father said his son could have permanent injuries after police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shot him at least seven times on Sunday.
Blake's father, also named Jacob Blake, told the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday that his son had "eight holes" in his body and was paralyzed from the waist down. He said doctors didn't yet know whether the injury is permanent.
"I want to put my hand on my son's cheek and kiss him on his forehead, and then I'll be OK," his father told the newspaper. "I'll kiss him with my mask. The first thing I want to do is touch my son."
After the shooting, Blake was transported to a hospital in Milwaukee, where he underwent surgery to save his life. The Kenosha Police Department has said the officers were responding to a "domestic incident." Footage of the shooting circulated on social media on Sunday, sparking frustration and outrage as protesters rallied in downtown Kenosha.
The protests continued in Kenosha on Monday and erupted in other cities like New York, Washington, DC, and Minneapolis, where police officers killed George Floyd in May.
In an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing the Blake family, said Blake's loved ones were "relieved that he is in stable condition."
"However, he's still in intensive care," Crump said. "And he's still facing more surgeries in the near future."
—Good Morning America (@GMA) August 25, 2020
The elder Blake blamed police officers for the unrest in Kenosha, telling the Sun-Times that they were "the flint as well as the gasoline."
"Those police officers that shot my son like a dog in the street are responsible for everything that has happened in the city of Kenosha," he told the newspaper. "My son is not responsible for it. My son didn't have a weapon. He didn't have a gun."
Jacob Blake's family and attornies gathered at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon in Kenosha to address the incident and give an update on his condition.
"They shot my son seven times, seven times like he didn't matter," his father said. "But my son matters. He's a human being and he matters."
Crump said that the bullets severed some of Blake's spinal cord and shattered some vertebrae.
"It is going to take a miracle for Jacob Blake Jr. to ever walk again," Crump said. "He is currently in surgery as we speak, still struggling to sustain his life and to hopefully become some resemblance to the man he once was."
This article has been updated.
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