TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - Tuesday night, 16-year-old Anthony Turner and his friends Nick and Nathan Salazar were walking to Whittier Elementary when they were approached by two boys.
"We were just standing there on the corner then we asked them how their day was and stuff like that and then they said their day was good," said 14-year-old Nathan Salazar. "Then we asked them if they were from around here and they said no."
The conversation started harmless but took a near deadly turn.
"Then he told us all game over," said Salazar. "We looked at him and were like huh? And he said, game over then he reached in his waist pulled it out and got him right in his eye."
That's when Nick and Nathan's instincts kicked in.
"Our first thing that came to mind was just run and get out of there."
Before taking off, the Salazar brothers got Anthony to his mom. Anthony was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
While Nathan told WTOL 11 Anthony's spirits are high after speaking with him since the shooting, he said Anthony is the last person who deserves something like this to happen to him.
"He's like my brother. We grew up with him. He's always there to put smiles on our faces."
Anthony isn't the first victim of a flare gun shooting either.
On Sunday, 36-year-old Deborah Price was pumping gas at Cherry and Bancroft when six guys jumped into her car.
According to police records, Price drove the suspects to an unknown location near Page and Kent streets before shooting her in the face.
As of right now, Toledo Police are still investigating both incidents. It's unclear whether the two are related.
"I just hope they get caught by the cops," said Salazar.
Anyone with information on either shooting is asked to call Crime Stopper at 419-255-1111.
