Cook's Corner shooting victim shares grateful birthday message from hospital bed

A survivor of the deadly Trabuco Canyon shooting shared a heartfelt thank-you message on his birthday Tuesday from his hospital bed.

Michael Bertuccini was outside the bar and restaurant in Orange County's Trabuco Canyon Aug. 23, where many gathered for the $8 Spaghetti Night special and live music, helping a friend fix a tail-light when a 59-year-old former Southern California police officer opened fire. He was one of six people hospitalized after the shooting that left three victims dead.

Family members said Mike, who is a father of two, and his friend heard what they thought were fireworks, but then saw a man holding a gun.

"Michael felt a sharp pain in his ribs and realized the man was shooting at them," the family said in a statement on a GoFundMe page. "Michael pushed his friend towards a ditch that was nearby and said, 'He is shooting at us.' Once he pushed his friend to safety Michael scrambled into the ditch where he collapsed to the ground. His friend, fearing that the man would come to the ditch and shoot them, began dragging Michael through the mud underneath an overpass and waited, hoping the man would not come to where they were taking cover."

On Tuesday, Bertuccini turned 48. Holding a birthday card and still breathing through a ventilator at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Bertuccini shared a message of thanks to those who helped him survive a night of deadly violence.

"Thank you Orange County Sheriff's Department, for getting there fast," Bertuccini said. "And, the first responders and my friends for getting me to the gurney and to the hospital, thank you so much."

Bertuccini has been on a ventilator since he arrived at the hospital. After two surgeries, he remains in critical, but stable, condition.

Law enforcement officers arrived at the bar off Santiago Canyon Road within two minutes of the first reports of gunfire, authorities said.

Daniel Bertuccini said he is thankful for the quick response from law enforcement and firefighter-paramedics.

"They quickly got him out of the ditch and put him on that gurney and got him to the ambulance," Daniel Bertuccini said. "I know that if the officers had not done that, my brother might not be here today."

The shooter, identified as a former Ventura Police Department officer who targeted his estranged wife before opening fire on other people, was shot and killed by responding deputies. The shooter's wife was among those hospitalized.