Detroit 18-year-old with autism shot in the back after getting lost
Detroit teen with autism shot in the back after getting lost
18-year-old Claude Woosk has autism and he could eventually become paralyzed. He is in critical condition and in a lot of pain while doctors are trying to save his kidney. Violet Woosk heard it all while on the phone with her brother on Wednesday.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - A teen with autism got lost in Detroit and was allegedly jumped by two men and shot in the back as he tried to run away.
What we know:
18-year-old Claude Woosk has autism, and he could eventually become paralyzed. He is in critical condition and in a lot of pain while doctors are trying to save his kidney.
Violet Woosk heard it all while on the phone with her brother on Wednesday.
"All you heard was my brother saying ow ow ow, and then it was complete silence," she said.
Violet learned later from the police that during that silence, her brother was shot in the back trying to run away from two men allegedly attacking him.
"It went quiet, and then all you heard him screaming, and then I told him I said I have to hang up with you. I have to call the police," she said.
What they're saying:
Claude was taking a test at a facility in Detroit and somehow the wrong address got put into the Uber app. Instead of getting dropped off at home in River Rouge, he ended up on the corner of Warren and Lenox on Detroit’s east side.
His family say his autism causes panic and confusion in unfamiliar settings as he called Violet, who told him to take a photo of a nearby address.
"Some guy came out and yelled, 'Why are you taking pictures of the house?' and as soon as the guy came out yelling, he's already in tears because he's special needs as it is, so he's already scared because he doesn't know anywhere around there," she said.
Violet says he pleaded with the men that he’d delete the photo.
"He had no weapons on him. No nothing. He even screamed to you guys that he was just lost trying to find his way home," she said.
Then they shot him.
He’s supposed to be the first of the six siblings to graduate high school in the spring, but now everything is uncertain.
"He is moving his feet, so it's a good sign, but they don't know later on things could change and he could become paralyzed or not," she said.
Detroit police at the Fifth Precinct are on the case. They’ve retrieved evidence, but no arrests have been made.
What we don't know:
The identities of the alleged suspects are unknown.