9-year-old shot waiting for Easter photos gets visit from the Easter Bunny
VICTORVILLE, Calif. - Just days ago, Ava and her family were lined up to take pictures with the Easter Bunny at the Victor Valley Mall in Victorville. But those photos never happened.
The nine-year-old girl was hospitalized after being hit by bullets. The alleged shooter, the owner of a shoe store at the mall, was firing a gun at suspected shoplifters, but hit Ava instead. According to her family, one of the bullets badly fractured a bone in her arm, and she's got a long and expensive road to recovery.
So while Ava didn't get to meet the Easter Bunny earlier in the week, this Easter Sunday, the "Easter Bunny" dropped by to pay her a visit. The nonprofit organization A Future Super Hero and Friends dropped by the family's home. But everything wasn't as it seemed. After surprising Ava with a few gifts, the "Easter Bunny" revealed himself to be Marvel Comics antihero Deadpool.
"She didn’t get a chance to take her photo with the Easter Bunny at the mall. So today we brought the Easter Bunny to her," the organization said in a statement to FOX 11.
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Ava was recently released from the hospital. A GoFundMe page the family has set up to cover her medical expenses has exceeded its $5,000 goal. She was recently released from the hospital.
Twenty-year-old Marquel Cockrell, the owner of the Sole Addicts shoe store, who is accused of shooting Ava, was arrested by Highway Patrol Officers in Nevada and is expected to be returned to California.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- Store owner opens fire on suspected shoplifters, accidentally striking 9-year-old girl, deputies say
- Victorville mall shooting leaves 9-year-old girl with long and expensive road to recovery
- 9-year-old girl shot at a Victorville mall out of the hospital
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