Two students at the Cal Maritime Academy are recovering after getting caught in the crossfire of a shootout while pumping gas at a station in Vallejo.
Surveillance video captured the Tuesday night shooting and shows occupants of a white Mercedes shooting through the students' truck at a car parked on the other side of them. The shooting occurred at the Express gas station on Tennessee Street and left one student shot in the face and the other in the neck.
"It's really something that they should not have had to go through," Cal Maritime Academy Interim President Michael Dumont said. "Nobody should in this day and age in a community in California."
Video shows the students running out of the truck and inside the gas station to safety. Dumont said the young men's emergency training they learned at the academy kicked in when one of the students used his thumb to plug the bullet hole in his neck while he helped his friend and called 911.
"The training kicked in during a really traumatic experience," Dumont said. "It's a testament to these two."
George Hutson is the student who was shot in the face. His sister told NBC Bay Area the bullet went through his nose and out his cheek. The 23-year-old Huston is out of ICU and will undergo a second surgery this weekend. His friend is already out of the hospital.
"The both of them survived on a miracle," sister Maude Hutson said.
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A GoFundMe has been set up to help George Hutson and his family with expenses. His sister said they are grateful for the support.
The Cal Maritime Academy is also raising funds to support the families. Students said they are now scared to venture off campus, but are grateful their classmates survived.
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Vallejo police said there have been no arrests as of Friday night, but added it is an active investigation.
Dumont is calling for a meeting with the police chief and city leaders.
"When I look at the level of violence and the frequency of this violence in this area, it's excessive and something needs to be done about it," Dumont said. "And it needs to be taken care of now because this cannot continue."
