CHICAGO, July 10 (UPI) -- A community activist in Chicago will not press charges against a man who shot at him Monday night, in exchange for the man's help fighting gun violence in Chicago.
On Monday, a day after Chicago's notoriously violent 2014 Fourth of July weekend, pastor and activist Jedidiah Brown was shot at while visiting the site of one of the weekend's victims.
Around 9 p.m., Brown got into an argument with a group of men in a dark-colored car. As tensions escalated, Brown, a candidate for Chicago's city council, urged the men to remain cool, saying "We're not going to do this today."
The car initially left, but circled back around and a gun emerged and fired from a rolled down window.
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"I thought I was never going to see my family again," Brown of the Monday shooting. "I never knew I could run that fast. I called on Jesus, and he gave me wings."
Days later, Brown appeared on the local news to discuss the shooting and lament Chicago's recent violence. Unbeknownst to Brown, the shooter was not only watching, but the two men knew each other as Brown has been helping the shooter's underprivileged family during hard times.
"I had just gave money to the actual person who was shooting at me for them to go and buy shoes for their baby a few days ago."
The shooter, whom Brown will not identify, called the pastor to apologize and ask forgiveness, saying he had no idea he was shooting at Brown. Brown accepted his apology, on the condition the shooter spend a day visiting sites of recent shooting deaths and committed to turning his life around.
"I'm not going to report him," Brown told DNAinfo Chicago. "I'm going to help him. He's in my car because today he's serving the community he terrorized last night."
"This is what I do...I care about Chicago. I love my city. This is everybody's problem, it's everybody's fault."
