Teen shooting victim responds to doctor with thumbs-up

NBC reports the family of Abigail Kopf, 14, say she is “fighting for her life” after she was critically injured in the Kalamazoo shooting spree that killed six others.

Bouquets of flowers were piling up outside the Texas Township Cracker Barrel Monday, Feb. 22, 2016 following the Saturday shooting that killed four women and wounded a teenager.

Lt. Dale Hinz said the girl was pronounced brain dead shortly after arriving to the hospital. Then the doctor asked Kopf to give a thumbs up, and she lifted both thumbs in response, the officer said.

“Actually, she squeezed my hand”, she said.

The doctor said that Abigail remained on a ventilator in critical condition.

Authorities say Kopf was in a auto outside a Kalamazoo-area restaurant when she was shot Saturday.

The others in the vehicle were all shot and killed by a gunman whose motives have still not been determined.

Her heart did stop at one point immediately after the paramedics responded to the scene, but were able to get it going again.

“She is alive and she’s fighting for her life”, said Vicki Kopf, Abigail’s mom.

State police said that the four people killed in the Cracker Barrel parking lot were: Mary Lou Nye, 62, of Baroda, Mich.; Mary Jo Nye, 60, of Battle Creek, Mich.; Dorothy Brown, 74, of Battle Creek, Mich.; and Barbara Hawthorne, 68, of Battle Creek, Mich.

On Monday night, First Baptist Church in Kalamazoo was packed with mourners who came out to honor the victims of the shooting and pray for survivors.

“We have been by Abigail’s bedside since this happened”, he said. “You don’t expect it and then all of the sudden it’s there”.

Fighter: The parents of Abigail Kopf (left and right), 14, who was shot in the head in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Saturday, say their daughter is fighting for her life.

“In spite of the seriousness of her injuries, we are encouraged by her relative stability over the last several days and responsiveness to her parents and our team”, he said. A total of eight people were shot Saturday night, six died- two survived.

“There’s no common denominator with any of these”, Kalamazoo County Undersheriff Paul Matyas said.