What 'Don't Worry I'll Keep You Safe' Means When Your Child Survives A Shooting : NPR
Josh Stepakoff
Josh Stepakoff  was 6 years old in 1999  when a white supremacist opened fire on  his  day camp at the Los Angeles Jewish Community Center.
 Josh  was shot in  his  leg and hip. The gunman wounded four others  and shot and killed another man a few miles away.
"I remember playing capture the flag and I looked up and I saw somebody who was holding something at  his  hip. I thought it was a power drill " Josh  now 24  tells his father  Alan  at StoryCorps. "And then  the next thing I remember is getting up from the ground and running as fast as I could."
toggle caption Courtesy of  Joshua Stepakoff
He remembers that right after the shooting  Josh  was scared of helicopter sounds and loud noises.
"I think it was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that this was not normal "  Josh  says. "I thought everyone had a hard time sleeping over. I thought everyone had hard times in the dark."
One of the most difficult things for Alan  he says  was he could never assure  Josh  he could protect him.
"You know  I could never put my arms around you and say 'Don't worry   Josh   I'll keep you safe ' because I couldn't. I just thank God every day you weren't killed " he says. "I don't know whether you've ever envisioned yourself as a family man  married  children. Would you tell this to your child?"
"I go back and forth with that. I think about it a lot  " Josh  says. "I think about my child's 6th birthday and what that will be like for me. I don't know."
 Josh  has a bachelor's degree in psychology and is now in graduate school working on  his  master's in clinical psychology. Does  he  see  himself  counseling other shooting victims?
"Half of me says yes and half of me says no  partially because I almost think that I won't be able to differentiate my life from theirs "  Josh  says. "But nobody tells you what to expect after getting shot  and so the other part of me just so badly wants to be a light in someone's life when they think it's dark."
[TGT] was 6 years old in 1999  when a white supremacist opened fire on   [TGT]   day camp at the Los Angeles Jewish Community Center.
  [TGT] was shot in   [TGT]   leg and hip. The gunman wounded four others  and shot and killed another man a few miles away.
"I remember playing capture the flag and I looked up and I saw somebody who was holding something at   [TGT]   hip. I thought it was a power drill  [TGT] now 24  tells his father  Alan  at StoryCorps. "And then  the next thing I remember is getting up from the ground and running as fast as I could."
toggle caption Courtesy of   [TGT] 
 [TGT]  remembers that right after the shooting   [TGT] was scared of helicopter sounds and loud noises.
"I think it was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that this was not normal  [TGT] says. "I thought everyone had a hard time sleeping over. I thought everyone had hard times in the dark."
One of the most difficult things for Alan  he says  was he could never assure   [TGT] he could protect him.
"You know  I could never put my arms around you and say 'Don't worry    [TGT] I'll keep you safe ' because I couldn't. I just thank God every day you weren't killed " he says. "I don't know whether you've ever envisioned yourself as a family man  married  children. Would you tell this to your child?"
"I go back and forth with that. I think about it a lot  "  [TGT] says. "I think about my child's 6th birthday and what that will be like for me. I don't know."
  [TGT] has a bachelor's degree in psychology and is now in graduate school working on   [TGT]   master's in clinical psychology. Does  he  see  himself  counseling other shooting victims?
"Half of me says yes and half of me says no  partially because I almost think that I won't be able to differentiate my life from theirs "   [TGT] says. "But nobody tells you what to expect after getting shot  and so the other part of me just so badly wants to be a light in someone's life when they think it's dark."