No one aims for the neck though. They were either aiming for the chest or head. Chest has all the vital organs, and head of course will kill.
Shooter was probably waiting for a clean head shot.
People get shot in the neck and survive. This shooter was lucky to hit the spine.
A conversation I had with a sniper way back when, he said he would aim for the medulla oblongata. A hit there would cause everything to seize. That's like center of the face if head on I think.