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Musician hit by stray bullet in Deep Ellum thankful for support as he continues recovery
Cameron Cooper, a local musician who was shot in Deep Ellum last month, is speaking out for the very first time.
DALLAS - A local musician who was shot in Deep Ellum last month is speaking out for the very first time.
Cameron Cooper, who performs as Chief Rebel, was shot Super Bowl Sunday.
He is now recovering at home, but he and his family say they have been changed.
To be shot when you aren't doing anything wrong, and to live through it, is a seminal moment, one Cooper and his family are still trying to digest.
"It's an ongoing process. I'm still processing how it’s changed me," Cooper said.
Life has changed for Cooper and his family after he was shot February 12 while working at the Free Man Cajun Cafe and Lounge in Deep Ellum.
"The whole entire process, from being shot, to going into the ambulance, from going out the ambulance into the operating room, and then waking up and three or four days had passed and I done been on the news," Cooper said. "It was definitely a lot to take in."
The 33-year-old is a music man, performing under the name Chief Rebel.
[REPORTER: "Has this changed the message of your music?"]
"Nah, if anything, it's amplified it," he responded. "I feel like I have a responsibility and obligation to push forward with what I was already doing, but with this testimony to help our community ‘cause it wasn't like I was there doing anything other than my job. It was something spontaneous when someone else made a choice and it put everybody in the line of fire."
The case was covered on Trackdown.
READ MORE: Trackdown: Musician hit by stray bullet in Deep Ellum as he was trying to protect others
Two men pulled guns on the sidewalk and opened fire at each other. Both missed, and Chief Rebel, who was inside the cafe and not in their beef, took a bullet.
"You can't let me lose my child, because Cameron is the child that we had when they told us we couldn't have any," Cooper’s mother, Glenda Mays, prayed after she learned her son had been shot.
"I'm not bitter. Of course we want justice and I believe it will happen," Mays added. "But bitterness, I think that stunts our growth, and once we move forward and learn from it, everybody can progress better."
READ MORE: Musician hit by stray bullet in Deep Ellum making strides in his recovery
Cooper is still processing, but thankful for his family and friends for their support.
"Purpose, power, faith, family, love, belief. I don’t think I would have had recovered without these people around me, not just these people around me, everyone who sent healing prayers. All of that energy, it definitely pushed me to heal and to be here right now talking to you," he said. "I have the deepest, most genuine gratitude for each and every person that wanted me to prosper and get back right, and it’s still a process, but I’m on the way."
Police are still trying to find the shooters.
Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to arrest and conviction.