10-year-old shot on porch while playing released from hospital

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Tavon Tanner, the 10-year-old boy who was playing on his front porch on Chicago's West Side when he was shot in the chest in August has been released from the hospital.

There is a celebration Thursday night. Tanner is still in pain, but he's relieved to be home and back in the arms of his mother after spending more than a month at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

After he survived the shooting he's afraid to be outside at night. Still, he is thanking the community for supporting him during this difficult time.

"I think everybody for praying for me," Tanner said.

"I am grateful. We are blessed. It could have been something different," said his aunt Anitra Smith.

Tanner was shot several times while playing on his front porch in the 3900-block of West Polk Street with his family.

"He was screaming so bad. He said he couldn't breathe, telling me that it was burning," said Harmonie Murphy, his aunt.

Since then, he has endured multiple surgeries and his recovery is far from over. But Thursday doctors finally gave him the okay to go home.

"The bullet is still inside so there will be therapy that he is going to have to go through," Smith said.

"I am happy that he is home, but sad at the same time that he has to endure this pain. And there's nothing- I wish I could take it from him and give it to me because he is only a baby," said Murphy.

The shooting sparked outrage across the city, especially since the victim was an innocent little boy simply playing outside. But the search for the person behind the shooting continues.

"It has to stop. It really has to stop," said Smith.

Tanner was scheduled to start school last week but his mother said she is not sure when he will be able to begin his school year.