text: Leo Bernal, 8, is lucky to be alive after an intruder shot him in the head as he lay in bed at his home in Culver City, California, over the weekend. On Friday, five days after the shooting, the 8-year-old was released from the hospital with nearly two dozen medical staples holding his scalp together. 'My head kinda hurts right now, but I'm OK with it,' the brave boy said as he sat on a bench outside Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Scroll down for video . Miracle boy: Leo Bernal, 8, was released from the hospital Friday, five days after he was shot in the head by an armed home intruder in California . Scarred: Doctors had to open the child's skull to extract the bullet, leaving him with a partially shaved scalp and 23 staples . Terror in the night: Bullets pierced the wall of the bedroom where the 8-year-old and his 17-year-old brother were in bed at her home in Culver City . His head was partially shaved and marred by two long, stapled incisions. Speaking to NBC Los Angeles, Leo said he looks forward to playing sports again. 'They had to open up his skull and take it out, and now he has 23 staples,' said his mother, Teresa Bernal. Police have asked the public's help in finding the gunman who opened fire at around 11.55pm Sunday inside the boy' home in the Del Rey neighborhood near Venice Beach. Traumatized: Teresa Bernal, Leo's mother, said her son was scared to go back home . The boy had just been put to bed when his father heard the unlocked security door and front door open and thought it was his 20-year-old son returning, police said. Instead, a stranger wearing a hooded sweatshirt entered, exchanged a few words and then began shooting at and chasing the father, according to the family's account. Bullets pierced the wall of the bedroom where the 8-year-old and his 17-year-old brother were in bed. The father told police he ran into the boy's bedroom and tried to shield him as the gunman followed, still firing. 'It was a matter of seconds, just bam! Bam! Bam!,' Leo's mother told the NBC station. 'Fourteen shots, all pointed into my kid's room.' The boy's brother, parents and grandmother escaped unharmed. Detectives are seeking a motive for the attack. Meanwhile, Leo's mother said Leo is scared to go home. 'Who wants to go back to that? It's like the nightmare,' she said. 'My son [has been] crying about going home. He doesn't want to go home. He's horrified.' The hospital offered the family a few free nights at a hotel and a pamphlet for social services, KNBC-TV reported. The family have set up a GoFundMe account to raise $50,000 towards Leo's medical costs.
target: Leo Bernal, 8, suffered gunshot wound to the head as he lay in bed in Culver City, California .
  Doctors had to open his skull to save his life, leaving him with 23 staples .
  Bernal's mother say her son is not afraid to return home .