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Disabled man shot by teens while walking to choir practice

Posted at 6:27 PM, Jan 17, 2012
and last updated 2012-01-18 11:35:58-05

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - Police in Richmond, Virginia are looking for the teenagers who shot a man who was walking to church choir practice.

Donald Vann, 52, survived the January 10, 2012 shooting.

"I want them arrested and go to jail," Vann, who is mentally disabled, said.

Vann said he knew something bad was about to happen when the teens approached him as he walked to Woodville Church of the Nazarene in the city’s East End.

He said one of the teenagers had a gun, two  others  waited nearby by. Vann said he heard one of the teenager say "don’t shoot him in the head.”

Vann said the teenager shot him in the shoulder.

The man ran to the front doors of the church when he said he collapsed in pain.

Richmond police detectives said they have very few clues to work with, so they are asking the public for help.

“The community is our biggest asset in a case like this," said Richmond Police Detective Jon Bridges. "It’s solvable but we need people that live in that area to come forward with information.”

Vann is out of the hospital now and recovering at home. The bullet in his shoulder could not be removed because doctors feared it was too close to an artery. Vann's injury has left him unable to lift his one-year-old grandson.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.