Trolley Square shooting victim Alan "AJ" Walker heads home from hospital

Less than three weeks after taking a shotgun blast to the head during the Trolley Square shooting, Alan "AJ" Walker went home this morning.

"He's able to walk," said Walker family spokesman Mark McDougal. "He's still post brain surgery — he has to be careful about what he does."

AJ will require follow-up surgery to replace a four-inch square portion of his skull that was removed to relieve swelling of his brain after the Feb. 12 shooting. It's expected that doctors will use the original piece of bone taken from his head.

Six people died in the Trolley Square shooting, including the gunman, Sulejman Talovic, 18. Talovic's body was flown this week to Bosnia, and his parents will travel from Salt Lake City to witness his burial.

Before Talovic was killed in a shootout with police, one of his victims was AJ's father, 52-year-old Jeffrey Phillip Walker, who was buried Feb. 17 while his son was still hospitalized in serious condition. The father had reportedly tried to shield his son from the shooter. Four other people, including AJ, 16, went to the hospital with gunshot wounds.

AJ left University Hospital in fair condition, and he's required to wear protection where the section of bone is missing on his shaved head.

As a show of solidarity, AJ's older brother Jeremy recently shaved his own head, which reveals evidence of a childhood wound similar to AJ's. When Jeremy was a boy, he fell out of a window, landed on his head and required the same surgical procedure as AJ to accommodate for brain swelling.

In the hospital room, "AJ said to Jeremy, 'Your hair looks funny,'" McDougal recalled. "Jeremy said, 'So does yours.'"

Jeremy has taken time off from work to be with his brother every day while in the hospital. The same goes for AJ's mother, Vickie Walker, who has been at his bedside every day.

"She's exhausted — she needs a rest," McDougal said. Emotionally, she's doing well, he added, but trying to balance her new life is "taking its toll."

In addition to another surgery after swelling issues have been resolved, AJ will continue to require outpatient physical therapy for an undetermined amount of time. Doctors have said that some of the shotgun BBs that entered AJ's body may also have to permanently remain in place.

A fund to help with AJ's ongoing medical costs has been set up at Zions Bank. Donations can be made by visiting any branch location.