Ethan Pritchard was shot in the head, then 'a miracle' happened — SkimNews
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- Ethan Pritchard, a true freshman Florida State Seminoles football player, was struck in the head on August 31, 2025, when 71 shots were fired at his 2023 silver Dodge Charger near the Havana Heights apartment complex; gunmen had mistaken his car for a different 2023 Dodge Charger they had been waiting to ambush.
- Pritchard put the car in reverse to shield his aunt Zealene Lawrence and her 3-year-old granddaughter in the backseat as bullets hit the windshield; the granddaughter was unharmed, and Lawrence later told Pritchard through tears, "You saved us."
- Trauma surgeon Dr. G. Patton Pennington at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare said the bullet remains lodged in Pritchard's skull, noting removal would cause more damage; Pritchard spent 30 days in a medically induced coma with a bolt monitoring brain pressure.
- Pritchard said he had a vision of his late mother, a late aunt, and Jesus while in the coma, recalling his mother telling him, "It's not your time," and told reporters he believes he glimpsed the next life.
- Pritchard's mother Andrea died of a brain aneurysm at age 30 on Christmas Day 2008, when Ethan was 18 months old; he committed to Florida State in 2023 to carry forward her legacy as an alumna.
- Florida State head coach Mike Norvell and several staff members arrived at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare before Ethan's father Earl and waited with the Pritchard family in the emergency room after the shooting.
- Seventy of the 71 bullets missed Pritchard; the single round that struck him was fired from close range as he shifted into drive to turn left out of a four-way stop with his family in the car.
Why it matters: Of 71 rounds fired at Pritchard's car, only one hit him — and he was targeted solely because his vehicle's year, make, and color matched a different 2023 Dodge Charger the gunmen had been stalking. For Florida State, a true freshman who dressed out for the program's 31-17 season-opening win over Alabama now faces an indefinite playing future with the bullet intentionally left in place to avoid further neurological damage.
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