‘Turn yourself in’: Victim’s grandfather speaks out to Renton road-rage shooter

A grandfather is speaking out three days after his 9-year-old grandson was critically wounded in a road rage shooting.

Isaiah Johns remains in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center, but his family says he is steadily improving.

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The driver who shot him during a road-rage incident last Friday is still on the loose.

Now, Isaiah’s family wants the person who shot him to turn himself in.

Michael Snyder says he has experienced a wave of emotions since his grandson arrived at Harborview last Friday.

“Yes, three days has felt like three weeks,” said Snyder.

He is breathing a bit more easily now.

His grandson Isaiah saw his sister and grandfather for the first time Monday, three days after he was critically shot in the face and chest.

“It’s a miracle,” Snyder said. “The bullet went through his face, out his neck, missed his spine. Didn’t hit any arteries. Went in his chest, missed his heart. A fragment of that bullet is still in his abdomen, and it didn’t hit any other organs or arteries. It’s a miracle that he’s alive.”

Isaiah and his sister were passengers in their father’s Dodge Durango at about 2:35 p.m. last Friday.

They were exiting State Route 167 heading into Renton when there was a dispute with another driver.

Isaiah’s father got out of his vehicle and the other driver opened fire, critically injuring Isaiah.

The suspect fled in a dark blue Ford Mustang convertible onto Southwest Grady Way toward Southeast Carr Road and disappeared.

There have been “a lot of hugs, a lot of crying, and a lot of praying” since last week, says Snyder.

He says the person who shot and nearly killed his grandson should come forward.

“I would think that at some point they would turn themselves in,” he said. “It’d be the right thing to do.”

When asked if he thinks the driver will do that, he said, “That’s up to them. I don’t know.” The family hopes the driver will turn themselves in.

Snyder says Isaiah is exceeding everyone’s expectations. He may be out of the ICU and into his own room in a couple of days, and he may even able to go home next week.

The family is grateful for the wishes and prayers of so many strangers.

If you are the driver or know who he is, you’re asked to call 911.

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