In the aftermath of the shooting at a Colorado movie theater that killed 12 people early Friday morning, a future Colorado State football player took to Twitter to express his gratitude that he was not among them.
"Thank you God for saving me tonight! thank you! thank you! thank you!" wrote Gateway High School offensive lineman Zack Golditch at 4:14 a.m. "May everyone that perished in the century 16 theater shooting rest in peace. You will all be missed!"
Justin Hoffman, Golditch's football coach at Gateway High School in Aurora, confirmed to Yahoo! Sports on Friday morning that the rising senior was among the 50 people wounded when a lone gunman opened fire during a showing of the new Batman movie. Hoffman declined to provide specifics about where Golditch was shot or how severe his injuries are, but he did say that he spoke to the lineman and he's "doing OK."
"He's at home and he's recovering," Hoffman said.
[Related: Golditch: 'I thought the pops going off were fireworks' ]
Golditch told The Coloradoan on Friday that he and several of his Gateway football teammates were watching the Batman movie in a theater room adjacent to the one where gunman James Holmes opened fire. The bullet that wounded Golditch traveled through the wall, entering just below his left ear and exiting at his hairline but not causing damage severe enough to require him to remain in the hospital more than a few hours.
Golditch, 6-foot-5, 260 pounds, is one of the top athletes at Gateway High School. Not only is Golditch a good enough prospect at offensive tackle to receive scholarship offers from the likes of Colorado, Wyoming and Air Force in addition to Colorado State, he also won the Class 5A state championship in the discus as a junior.
Football will be Golditch's focus when he gets to Colorado State this time next year, but it was understandably the last thing on his mind early Friday.
"I'm trying to stay calm and keep my mind off of it but the [reality is it] will always be there," he tweeted. "Thank you God for the gift of life! i promise it will not go to waste."
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