A near-death experience turned a troubled underachiever into an accomplished English professor. The botched robbery didn't do it. Neither did the three gunshots. It wasn't until he flatlined twice and was administered last rites that David Borkowski finally realized he was about to die, a thug at age fifteen. Convinced the cops were shooting harmless "salt" bullets, David had darted through front lawns as the cops gave chase. It wasn't until much later, when David was bleeding to death, that the cops realized they had hit one of their own---the son of a fellow cop. Funny and poignant, but always honest and reflective, A Shot Story tracks David Borkowski's life before and after the "accident" and tells how his having been a rather unremarkable student early on may have been a blessing in disguise.