A 45-year-old father of five is recovering in a hospital bed Thursday after being shot seven times earlier this month. But even with bullet holes in his face, Bobby Gayle had one message: "I can't have hatred living in my heart."
"Some people were looking at me funny, like even to pray for even a young man or whoever the man's family who did these things...but I never had no hatred in me," Gayle said in a video sent to ABC10.
Gayle was shot Friday, Oct. 8. His brother Marlon Gayle said his brother had finished up a construction job at a North Stockton restaurant next to the Wells Fargo Bank at Pacific Ave and E. Hammer Lane before the shooting happened.
According to family members, Gayle saw a man driving through the parking lot at high speed and yelled for him to slow down. That's when the man stopped his pick-up truck, got out and started shooting.
In the video Thursday, Bobby Gayle went on to say that, even though he was initially upset following the shooting, he is just thankful to be alive.
"I can't have hatred living in my heart, and in case if I do, it takes the place of love and other things like that. So that's a no, no," he said.
"I'm so thankful, and thank everybody for the support and the love and everything. And we come from a family, we just love everybody, there's no hatred over here. 100%," Gayle said.
He wrapped up the video by saying he will not let this one individual "mess it up," adding he has friends of all other ethnicities and backgrounds, hammering home the point that "It ain't just about black love; it's everybody's love and the love of Christ is the main thing and it shows it here."
According to a Facebook post by the Stockton Police Department, Michael Hayes has been charged with attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon and multiple weapons charges. Police say the investigation is in its earlier stages and the shooting is being investigated as a potential hate crime.
Gayle's family has set up a GoFundMe page for Bobby Gayle as he recovers.
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