Young Sniper Victim Speaks

The youngest victim of the Washington-area sniper attacks says he feels great and can't wait to get back on the basketball court with his friends.

Iran Brown, 13, told reporters at Children's Hospital that he credits God with his remarkable recovery from a bullet wound that shredded his organs and threatened his life.

"I feel great and am looking forward to playing a lot of basketball and hanging out with my friends," Iran said. He said he's not in any pain.

"I just never gave up," he said.

Iran became the eighth victim of the shooting spree that terrorized the Washington suburbs when he was shot the morning of Oct. 7 on his way into Benjamin Tasker Middle School.

Police said the shooter lay in wait on a nearby hill. Iran had just left his aunt's car when he was shot in the abdomen. The aunt put him back into the car and sped to a nearby clinic for emergency treatment.

John Allen Muhammad, 41 and John Lee Malvo 17, were charged with the shooting and are in jail awaiting trial on other murder charges. Authorities have linked them to 19 shootings, including 13 deaths, in Washington, Maryland and Virginia as well as Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama.

A Justice Department official confirmed Friday that Una James, Malvo's mother, was being deported back to Jamaica. She had been flown first from Seattle to Miami and was preparing to travel from there to Jamaica, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Iran had been hospitalized for several weeks with severe injuries to many of his major organs including his spleen, stomach and pancreas.

"He's recovering well," said Doctor Martin Eichelberger adding that Iran is one of the best patients he's ever had. Eichelberger said the only medication Iran needs now is an antibiotic because they had to remove his spleen.

He said Iran's good health, his family's support and the steps taken by the first medical workers who treated him were largely responsible for his recovery.

"My family has been turned upside down," said Iran's mother, Lisa Brown.

Brown got a visit a day earlier from First Lady Laura Bush, who treated children at a hospital to a White House tour from the perspective of one of her dogs.

Mrs. Bush continued a tradition dating back to former first lady Jackie Kennedy with a Christmas time visit to patients at Children's National Medical Center.

Iran, 13, who was discharged more than a month ago, walked through the hospital with Mrs. Bush. He showed no signs of the bullet that ripped through his internal organs Oct. 7.

"You look like you're doing great!" Mrs. Bush told Iran. "Bless you darling."

The boy appeared a bit sheepish at all the attention. His thumbs hooked in his pockets, he said little as he visited with the first lady.

Mrs. Bush also visited with several hospitalized children including 7-year-old Kyle Wood, his leg in a sling and his room decorated with holiday signs and symbols.

An aide hoisted first dog Barney up to Woods' bedside so he could pet the Scottish terrier. Santa Claus, who accompanied Mrs. Bush, handed a book by artist Robert Rauschenberg to Kyle.

Mrs. Bush sat with about a hundred children later and presented a video of a White House tour shot from a camera attached to Barney as he scurried among the mansion's grand decorations.

The "Barney-cam," as Mrs. Bush called it, documented Barney playing with ornaments and frolicking in the snow on the South Lawn. Also featured was a showdown over a bone between Barney and the Bushes' other dog, Spot.

Asked by a young girl what the first lady would do if she were a superhero, Mrs. Bush responded, "if I had a superpower, it would be to make everybody well."