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Sam Metcalfe, Paralyzed By Stray Bullet In Brooklyn, Speaks Out: 'The Person Who Shot Me Was Hunting A Young Man'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - We're hearing from one of the victims of gun violence in New York City.

He was paralyzed by a stray bullet eight months ago.

As CBS2's Dave Carlin reports, the victim is hopeful for change.

Sam Metcalfe's mind keeps taking him back to the shooting that paralyzed him from the waist down. It happened midday August 19th, 2020, in a hail of bullets where Woodruff and Ocean Avenues intersect in Flatbush. Teenager Malcolm Amede was killed, and Metcalfe was wounded.

"It's a waking dream and I hear gunshots. It's an auditory hallucination," Metcalfe said.

A photo shows him with his wife Sabrina, who was right there when it happened.

"If I didn't have the support from my wife the way that I do I would be pulled back to a dark place," he said.

"What do you feel about the person who shot you?" Carlin asked.

"The person who shot me was hunting a young man. A young man was murdered at the scene, also had a gun," Metcalfe said.

Metcalfe agreed to this interview after seeing the Biden administration last week tighten gun regulations, closing loopholes on untraceable ghost guns and boosting violence intervention efforts.

"Give them better alternatives," he said. "Free college is a good start. In New York state, we're working on that."

"I don't suggest you ever see it," Carlin said indicating that there is footage of the shooting that left Metcalfe paralyzed.

"I've seen the footage," he said. "It's hard. I really feel from my old neighborhood. We really had a community there... I moved because it's emotionally difficult for my wife for me to be near where I got shot. It's just too hard. It was just a block from our front door."

Metcalfe works in tech and arts management, and he paints and sculpts. He possesses the bullet that struck him.

"I'm definitely going to make something with the bullet," he said. "It's a powerful object... Maybe I'll make a tiny little mold and melt it down and make it into something else."

Metcalfe was looking forward to receiving his COVID vaccine.

"The first thing after the vaccine it was to go to the Met," he said.

The works inside museums give him inspiration, and family and friends give him support, and his own inner strength gives him hope and incredible progress. Pull-ups are part of a regimen that is paying off.

"That's part of my regular training," he said. "I've recovered a lot of mobility in my upper body...  I have some return now in the left leg... I can move a little bit and I have a sensation down to my foot... I'm getting custom brace is made so I'll be able to stand up out of the chair... I just feel so grateful and lucky."

He says getting back on his feet will come with no regrets. no anger and no quitting.

If you'd like to help support Metcalfe's rehab, there's a GoFundMe. CLICK HERE to support it.

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