Black man shot 7 times in potential hate crime in California: ‘He started calling him the N-word and started shooting him’

A California man was shot seven times in a random attack last week, and police are investigating the case as a hate crime.

Bobby Gayle, a 45-year-old Black man, was working his construction job Oct. 8 in Stockton when he was attacked, Sacramento ABC affiliate KXTV reported.

“The guy doesn’t know my brother. My brother doesn’t know him,” Bobby’s brother Marlon Gayle told KXTV. “Out of nowhere, he started calling him the N-word and started shooting him.”

© GoFundMe.com Bobby Gayle is pictured with his family.Bobby Gayle is pictured with his family. (GoFundMe.com/)

No suspects have been arrested. Despite being shot seven times, Bobby Gayle did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

The attacker, a white man believed to be in his 30s, backed up his pickup truck at high speeds near Bobby Gayle and his friend in the city about 45 miles south of Sacramento, according to local NBC affiliate KCRA. Bobby asked the man to slow down.

The driver responded by getting out of the car, opening fire and shouting racial slurs, Marlon Gayle said.

Stockton police shared photos of the man and his truck, a Chevrolet Silverado, in a Wednesday afternoon Facebook post. They confirmed the hate crime investigation.

“We believe in love. We believe in forgiveness, but at the same time, white supremacy, hatred, bigotry, and all of that – we stand against that,” Marlon told KCRA.

Cops are offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest. A GoFundMe has been created to help Gayle and his family.

“Bobby is a hardworking, God-fearing man, who is extremely loved, valued, and a beacon of light for many who know him,” the fundraiser reads. “He is a wonderful father, brother, husband, and son.”