'Will my baby make it?' Mom shares terrifying account of her infant son shot

One mom is sharing her story about how gun violence nearly took the most precious thing in the world from her.

June is National Gun Violence Awareness Month.

On Friday, which is actually National Gun Violence Awareness Day, several local officials spoke about the need to crack down on this violence.

In King County, officials say they are currently on course to set another deadly record for gun violence.

In 2021, there have been 69 total shooting victims in King County. Unfortunately, many of those are young people.

On average, five kids are killed every year in King County due to gun violence.

In the last two months, there have been several incidents throughout King County where children are victims to gun violence.

The most recent incident happened in the SeaTac area when a 17-month-old baby and his grandma were shot.

RELATED: One-year-old baby in critical condition after SeaTac shooting

"I felt scared. I felt like how could someone do this. I felt all types of things were going through my head. Like, will my baby make it?" said Astride Simon.

On Saturday, May 22, Simon lived through a nightmare.

She says her son’s father broke into her home and shot her mom and her 17-month-old son, Alijah.

"Then you realize I’m not in this nightmare right now, this is real. My baby is actually in critical condition," she said.

Amazingly, her son survived, but he is still recovering in the hospital. Her mom has been released from the hospital.

The suspect, 46-year-old Dion Johnson, reportedly lured deputies to a gas station in Skyway Sunday afternoon to surrender, but then killed himself, deputies say

King County is investing millions of dollars to address the issues of gun violence. Officials say one million dollars is going toward providing economic opportunities for kids and young adults involved in gun violence, and another two million dollars is going toward a new gun violence prevention grant program within King County.

Also, Friday kicked off the Regional Peacekeepers Collective, an effort to crack down on fatal gun violence.

The goal is to involve the community in coming up with a plan to reduce shooting deaths and violence, as well as put an immediate focus on keeping at-risk kids safe.

Astride Simon is raising money to help with the medical costs associated with her baby's recovery. 

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