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Sacramento Man Returns To Basketball Court Where He Was Shot: 'They Killed Me But I Came Back'

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – One year ago Sebastian Sharpe was playing basketball in Sacramento when he was shot.

The avid basketball player says he had not been back to the park since the shooting. CBS13 joined Sebastian, who's now paralyzed from the waist down, and his father as they revisited the scene of the shooting that nearly took Sebastian's life.

sharpe family
Sebastian Sharpe with his family at the basketball court where he was shot. (12/28/20)

"I didn't think I'd ever return here, to be honest. I remember everything clearly. I remember dying clearly," Sebastian Sharpe said.

His father, Damion Sharpe, says the night was unforgettable for him.

"We were all playing basketball here. All of a sudden there were bullets hitting the ground. I witnessed him dying in front of me," Damion Sharpe said. "It feels like when the breath gets taken out of you and you're not sure you're going to be able to get it back. And you don't even know if you want to breathe without him."

Sebastian was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a child and says he's cheated death his whole life.

"I was supposed to die when I was 21 is what they told me all my life because of CF. And I'm 30, I'm going to keep fighting this until the end," he said. "That whole conversation I had with God. The whole time I just kept saying I'm coming back there's no way, no, no I'm coming back. They killed me but I came back."

The bullet may have changed their lives for now, and it may have even taken Sebastian off the court, but he says he won't be on the bench forever.

"Everything I love involves my legs. I played every day my whole life so that's crushing. Why, why'd you do that? You just changed my life," Sebastian Sharpe said.

Damion says his new year's resolution is to have his son walk and have a full recovery.

"Imagine the time it takes you to get out of the house, wash your hair, shower it's like tenfold more. Just to wash his hands is a challenge, so every little thing has changed," Damion Sharpe said.

The Sacramento Police Department did not have any specific updates on this case. They simply said the investigation is on-going.

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