Survivor of Sparks, Nev., shooting says he is lucky to be alive

One of the boys wounded in a middle school shooting in Sparks, Nev., says he is lucky to be alive and people should remember that guns are not toys.

The rampage early Monday left a teacher dead and two boys injured. The shooter, whom authorities have refused to identify, then took his own life.

In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Stephanie Elam on Thursday, the boy, identified as Mason, tearfully described the moments of terror when a fellow student opened fire outside the Sparks Middle School, killing 45-year-old math teacher Michael Landsberry and then himself.

PHOTOS: Sparks Middle School shooting

Mason, who is still being treated at a hospital, said his classmate was 10 to 20 feet away when he fired. Mason said he felt a sharp pain in his stomach.

“I’m lucky to be alive, and the bullet didn’t go through me. If it did I would have been dead,” Mason said. “I’m very lucky to be alive.”

Mason, 12, said he wanted people to learn from his experience, especially that guns and other weapons are not playthings.

“War and battles and anything doing with weapons and guns and knives...they’re all weapons and they can kill you very easily, if you hit the right spot,” he said.

Mason said after he was shot, emergency workers told him to lie down and put pressure on the wound.

Authorities are seeking a motive for the shootings, which occurred about 15 minutes before classes were scheduled to start.

Jennifer Davis, Mason’s mom, told reporters outside Renown Regional Medical Center that she did not believe her son was a target. She said he was shot after trying to help the mortally wounded teacher.

The mother of the other injured boy, who was injured in the shoulder, agreed.

“We do not believe our son was a target in this shooting,” she said in a statement. She did not identify herself or her son and asked for privacy for the family.

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