The shooting of a Marine Corps Security Forces Guard aboard a naval base in Georgia last week remains under investigation, according to Marine officials uthorities said.
Lance Cpl. Dan Cary, 19, of Gloucester, Massachusetts, was shot in the suffered the abdomen on March 24 injury while preparing for a security drill aboard Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia.
While Corps officials declined to did not detail the incident citing the ongoing investigation, the Marine's mother, Josie Cary, said she was told it was caused by a "negligent discharge" of an M16 service rifle. Dan Cary, who joined the Corps in 2013, was waiting for the security drill to start when a rifle went off and he was shot, Josie Cary said.
She received the news of the incident at about 8:45 p.m. that night. Told her son had walked it off, she found the situation was more serious when she arrived at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was taken for treatment. upon arrival in Florida. His stint would include time in the intensive care unit.
"The preliminary news was that it was a straight shot; that he walked into the emergency room," she recalled. "The Marines flew us down here and the news was quite different. He was just getting out of surgery and they kind of told us, an M16 bullet [tends] to tumble."
Josie Cary said seeing her son's injuries has It's taken a toll on the family. A breathing tube has kept Dan Cary from speaking with his parents immediately following the shooting.
"One day at a time," Josie Cary said. "It's tiring; a lot of anxiety. It seems like we're out of the woods now. I just wanting to get him home."
Back home, the Cary family's community has rallied. Friends, using the Facebook hashtag #danstrong, send messages of support. A GoFundMe page has been established to raise money for the family, and more than $6,000 has been raised within a week.
It's not clear how long his recovery will take, Josie Cary said, but she described her son as in good spirits. They may know more by the week's end, she said.
"He's got a sense of humor," Josie Cary said of her son. "He's as good as could be. He just doesn't want to get shot again."
