Shooting victim AJ Walker back home in South Jordan

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

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

AJ will require follow-up surgery to replace a 4-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-Herzegovina. His parents traveled from Salt Lake City to Sarajevo to witness his burial.

Before Talovic was killed in a shootout with police, his first victim 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.

Carolyn Tuft, 44, remains hospitalized in fair condition at LDS Hospital. Her 15-year-old daughter, Kirsten Hinckley, was killed in the shooting. Stacy Hanson, 53, remains hospitalized in fair condition. Earlier this week, Hanson was downgraded to serious condition. University Hospital officials said Thursday his condition has since improved.

Shawn Munns, 34, was released from the hospital last week and is recovering at home.

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 that he has been in the hospital. The same goes for AJ's mother, Vickie Walker, who has been at his bedside every day.