Cops: Gunman shoots black man while using slur

By Renée Santos

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    STOCKTON, California (KOVR) — Police are looking for the man who shot a black Stockton man repeatedly while calling him the n-word Friday night. The victim is in the hospital now facing a hard road to recovery.

“I wasn’t able to pick up, I didn’t know what was going on, but I got the voice message. He said, ‘Marlon, pray. I’ve been shot,” said Marlon Gayle whose brother was shot multiple times in Stockton.

Marlon said he thanked God that his brother Bobby’s life was spared after Bobby was shot seven times by a man he says his brother didn’t even know

CBS13 obtained surveillance video that is disturbing to watch.

In the video, the vicious attacker fired relentlessly towards Bobby, who backed away with his hands up — seemingly begging the suspect not to shoot. Bobby is alive after seeking shelter under his truck.

Marlon said Bobby, who is a father of five, was shot twice in the face and has several other gunshot wounds on his body including his throat.

“He was shot in his privates, he was shot in his thigh,” he explained.

The bullets narrowly missed major arteries.

“Each bullet was like saying ‘die.’ So, seven bullets that said ‘die’ and God said ‘live, live, live, live, live, live, live,’” he said.

Police are investigating what happened to Bobby outside a bank on Pacific Avenue near Hammer Lane as a possible hate crime.

“The guy drove by really fast. My brother said. ‘hey, slow down.’ The guy got out of the car, approached my brother…took out his gun…started saying the n-word over and over again as he was shooting my brother,” Marlon described.

Stockton Police say over the past five years they’ve averaged eight hate crime investigations per year. The most recent was this year and involved vandalism and graffiti with derogatory racial slurs.

“Right now, what’s going on in our country it’s just not okay,” said Rochelle Cheatam who lives in Stockton.

Marlon, whose family is strong in their faith, never thought his brother would be the victim of a racially motivated, violent attack.

“We are blessed that our brother is alive but at the same time, there are systemic issues like this that shouldn’t be swept under the rug. It needs to be dealt with and he needs to be brought to justice,” he added.

The family has set up a GoFundMe to assist with medical expenses as Bobby continues his road to recovery.

The Stockton Police Department is encouraging anyone with information to call (209) 937-8377 or the Investigations Division at (209) 937-8323.

Stockton Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to an arrest.

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