ST. LOUIS — Family, friends and an entire football team were all worried Tuesday night after getting word that Volunteer Coach Shaquille O'Shea Latimore had been shot during a practice at Sherman Park in north St. Louis.
Latimore was rushed to a hospital in critical condition.
"I heard the gunshots and I ducked down. When I looked down, I saw Shaq on the ground," said Coach Jennifer Perkins.
"The injuries that he had were very, very severe," said Semiko Latimore, the coach's mother.
Incredibly, the beloved coach is now taking a turn for the better.
"Shaquille is doing amazingly well. He's up. He is sitting up in a chair today. They removed all of his tubing. He's a fighter," said Semiko Latimore.
The 30-year-old coach's mom, parents and nine-year-old Dylan Bunting and his Bad Boyz teammates are all rallying around the recovering coach who survived the scare of his life.
"I think it's very sad because he is a great coach and he didn't deserve to get shot. He wants us to be great in everything," said Dylan said.
"I'm so grateful he's alive. He is such a great coach and a great individual," Perkins said.
Investigators said the suspect Daryl Clemmons became angry and shot the coach because Clemmons' son wasn't a starting player on the youth football team.
Coach Shaq was grazed and shot four times. Bullets hit him in his back, leg, arm and armpit.
His mom calls him a miracle.
"I thank everybody. Everybody who called, texted, prayed and supported my son. St. Louis has really shown up for him. It's just amazing," Semiko Latimore said.
An "amazing" day capped off with a surprise Facetime call from the Bad Boyz to their cool coach who everyone's now pulling for.
"Get well Coach Shaq! We love you!" shouted the Bad Boyz team when they gathered with their coach's mom today outside a hospital.
Latimore underwent surgery and is now recovering.
Clemons remains in jail on assault and armed criminal action charges.