San Antonio – A San Antonio man is stuck with medical bills and a long road to recovery after he was shot while pumping gas on the Northwest Side.
Alex Fountain, 22, said he was in shock from the entire situation.
“It was around 3:15-3:30 when my girlfriend and I pulled up to this gas station,” Alex Fountain said. “We go there all the time, so we never figured anything like this would happen.”
He said while he was pumping gas, he saw a man come around the pump.
“He immediately points the gun to my chest and he says, ‘Back up bro, I am not going to ask you again.’ I didn’t have any time to react,” Alex Fountain said. “He just aimed down at my leg and point blank to it. You don’t feel the pain for a while because you feel the bullet go through but then you immediately go into shock. I just fell down.”
The suspect then ran off with two other women, who San Antonio police were able to capture on surveillance video.
“My life just flashed before my eyes,” Alex Fountain said. “Just so many things popped in my mind. I thought he was going to go after my girlfriend and then come back to finish me.”
Jaime Fountain, his mother, said she was devastated when she got the call.
“I thought he was calling me to see where his father and I were at because we were supposed to be meeting him and his girlfriend at his apartment,” Jaime Fountain said. “I answer and he said, ‘Mom, I have been shot.’ I was like, ‘What? Where are you?’”
She said trying to get to her son felt like an eternity.
Sadly, the family is faced with an expensive road to recovery.
“He is not on our insurance because of his age,” Jaime Fountain said. “We had to go to a specialist because the bullet upset a nerve in his leg. He said that it was like a tree being cut from the root system and if it doesn’t get repaired, it dies. Alex has very little feeling and what he does feel is shooting pain.”
The family said doctors told them it would be one to five years before he can make a possible full recovery.
Something devastating to Alex Fountain because he was very active before the shooting.
“I loved to go out with my best friend,” Alex Fountain said. “I love to skate, and I love to drive. It hurts. I wish I could walk… when the specialist told us it was going to take one to five years, I just started bawling in the room.”
Alex Fountain is now living with his parents since he is unable to work, drive or get around independently.
“Our hope is that everything is ok, and he can be independent and work again,” his mother said through tears.
The family wants justice and to know why the suspect committed this senseless act of violence.
“I would have never forgiven myself if that phone call of him saying, ‘Mom I have been shot,’ was the last time we spoke,” Jaime Fountain said as she grew emotional. “He wouldn’t have gotten a chance to tell me bye or his dad bye. Don’t take life for granted.”
Police are also asking you to call Crimestoppers if you have any information that can help lead to an arrest. That number is (210)224-STOP.