BRIGHTON BEACH — The teenage hero who broke up a robbery attempt near a high school "did what he had do," his mom said Thursday.
Fritz Pascal, a student at William E. Grady Career and Technical Education High School, was shot Wednesday afternoon while stepping in between four alleged robbers and the 16-year-old boy they were trying to rob, police said.
He was shot in the torso and the suspects fled, police said.
"He just did what he thought he had to do," said Fritzie Pascal, the teen's mom, at Lutheran Medical Center.
Fritz Pascal was listed in critical but stable condition.
"He [is] not out of the woods yet," his mom added.
Pascal, an offensive and defensive tackle on the high school's football team, received a steady stream of visits from his high school football coach and teammates, too.
"The team is supporting him," said Chris McPhail, the assistant junior varsity football coach at Grady High School. "They came to visit him to make sure he's OK. They know Fritz as a person."
McPhail said Pascal was awake and coherent, though unable to speak in full sentences.
"He's fighting through it," McPhail said. "He's a good kid."
Pascal played the role of good Samaritan in a playground near the high school as class was letting out Wednesday. Four teens approached the 16-year-old boy, whose identity has not been released, and tried to rob him at gunpoint, police said.
That's when Pascal intervened and took a bullet in the chest, police said.
"He doesn't deserve this," said Bryant Browne, a classmate of Pascal's. "He doesn't start problems. He's the guy who tries to cheer you up."
Cops recovered a .9mm-caliber handgun at the scene.
Four suspects — Armando Agusto, 17, Jasper Mixon, 18, and Kurees Cobb and Bailah Abdullah, both 19 — were later arrested and charged with robbery, police said. Cobb, the suspected shooter, was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon and assault.
