Family of teen shot at Wendy’s grateful for community’s support

By Elliott Polakoff

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    PHOENIX, Arizona (KPHO/KTVK) — It’s been three days since 16-year-old Brian Durham Jr. was shot in the head while working at a Phoenix Wendy’s. Phoenix Police have arrested 27-year-old Theotis Polk on suspicion of aggravated assault after he started firing into the drive-through window following an argument with a different Wendy’s employee.

Durham Jr. is currently recovering at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. His father, Brian Durham Sr., says he’s full of energy and already has a feeding tube in place.

“My son could have moved two seconds this way, and he would have been gone,” Durham Sr. said.

But Brian Durham Jr., or B-Man to those closest to him, is very much here. He’s not able to say much, but he’s definitely making his presence felt.

“How we understand him is by squeezing his hand,” Durham Sr. said. “B-Man, are you hungry? Are you in pain? Squeeze our hand or something like that. And boy, those big colossal hands he’s got, he still got the strength!”

A strength that Durham Sr. says is as much mental as it is physical.

“He wanted to start working so he could help his mom,” Durham Sr. said. “Because his mom, she’s got a brain aneurysm, so she had to stop working. The day he turned 16, he went and got his working papers and got hired the next day.”

B-Man only worked for four months before he got shot. Durham Sr. is grateful that an arrest has already been made.

“This little boy just got shot in the head for no apparent reason,” Durham Sr. said. “He was just sitting in the middle, and the dude shot. I’m happy he got caught.”

But B-Man’s family is even more grateful for the support strangers have shown and the more than $30,000 raised via a GoFundMe that will help with Durham Jr.’s medical costs.

“90 percent of the people we didn’t know,” Durham Sr. said. “And you all helped out and came together for my son. We appreciate everything.”

In the meantime, it’s about the little things. That word or two that comes out of B-Man’s mouth or that burst of energy that family so often saw before the shooting.

“He was going crazy because he didn’t know what to do, flipping the phone because it was falling out of his hand,” Durham Sr. said. “He was picking it up. So yeah, he’s getting his swag back for real.”

If you’d like to donate to the family’s GoFundMe, you can do so at this site: gofundme.com/f/brian-durham-19th-ave-wendy-shooting?qid=d3494ccdf021febc26e1e3d1b436531f

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