FRANKLIN—Rudy Maddox, 20, of Franklin was shot in the face and leg during a private party at the Days Inn on Armory Drive early Sunday morning, Franklin police said.

Maddox received initial treatment at Southampton Memorial Hospital but was flown by air ambulance to Norfolk for further treatment.

According to Dorothy Bell, the shooting victim’s grandmother who raised him, Maddox is currently in serious condition in an intensive care unit. The shot to Maddox’s face went in one side and out the other. There is a possibility that the young man could be blinded for life.

Sitting at her kitchen table in Franklin, Bell’s hands were shaking as she described her reaction to the news of the shooting. “I just kept saying, ‘Jesus, Jesus — save him, he doesn’t know anything about life yet.’ ”

When Bell arrived at the hospital, she said it was almost too much for her to see. “He had all this stuff hooked up and blood all over. But, he squeezed my hand and said, ‘I’m alright Mama. I’ll be fine.’”

Bell said Maddox , who is a welder, had recently come back to live in Franklin and work in a nearby shipyard.

“He doesn’t mind working, he loves to work,” she said.

Bell said she wants the people who did this found and arrested.

“I want them caught,” she said. “Rudy is lying there in pain. He’s hurting for no reason.”

Bell said Maddox has never been a troublemaker and was a victim of unfortunate circumstances.

“This was a private party with good, honest, working boys. Then, someone had to come with some guns like it’s fun to shoot somebody,” she said.

“The boys Rudy was with didn’t have any guns. When I got Rudy’s things from the police, all he had in his pocket was a set of keys, some lip balm, $2 and a penny,” said Bell.

More than 100 people had been in attendance in the meeting room of the hotel when a fight broke out and the shooting occurred.

Franklin Police spokesperson Lt. Tim Whitt said investigators are working hard to find the shooters. According to Whitt, the suspects are believed to be from Suffolk. Whitt said this type of incident is becoming more common in the

area.

“What starts out as a small-town party grows into 100 to 200 people,” he said.

“Folks start text messaging each other and people from other places like Petersburg and Suffolk get wind of a free party in Franklin and come down here to stir up trouble.”

Whitt said situations like these “almost always end in violence.”

The Franklin police are looking to interview anyone who attended Saturday’s party.

“We need information from any witnesses who were at that party. Please come forward and tell us what you saw,” Whitt

said.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call Franklin Crime Stoppers at 757-562-8599. Information is kept confidential and the caller could earn a cash reward of up to $1,000 if their information leads to an arrest.