Paintball drive by shooting mistaken for real gun!

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JLStorm

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I just saw a video taken by a group of teenagers who taped themselves doing paintball drive by shootings at less than 10 feet from the victims. The video was seized by police and made its way to TV. Many of the victims during the actual shooting and while the guns were presented through the window thought they were actually being shot. The video of the innocent victims being shot showed that they had a few seconds between seeing the gun and getting shot where they typically froze or tried to run. All the shootings were at night and the barrels of guns looked black and had no bright markings to separate them from real guns

This made me think...in those few seconds after I saw the gun, but before the shots were fired from the paintball guns, I believe that I would start shooting my REAL ccw gun in order to avoid death, obviously not realizing that I was staring at real weapons.

The video also showed the victims startled for about a second or two before they fall to the ground after being shot in the head or chest believing that they were dying from a real gun shot wound. If I didnt realize they were just paintballs yet...if I could I am sure I would fire back to keep from getting shot again...but who knows, maybe I would just curl into the fetal position at that point.

At any rate, this is a scary thought...even though I would believe I am defending my life...I could end up killing some teenagers who didnt even have real guns. I dont know how my actions would be viewed, and Im sure this kind of thing doesnt happen much, but with the growing popularity of paintball and misguided youths, it made me think. At the time I would be 100% sure I was doing the only thing I could to protect my life, after all, I cant outrun a bullet and if a gun is already pointed at me , I have little choice but to fire in self defense. After the fact however, I could be in big trouble and really hate myself.
 
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I could end up killing some teenagers who didnt even have real guns.

Defend yourself appropropriately. My friend's brother lost an eye from one of these drive-by paintball shootings.
 
Stupidity on the part of a teenager is their problem. Act like your life was depending upon it. You thought it was real so tough turkey for them.
Second guessing is the job of people who were not there or reporters. Who are like used diapers.
I had one teen ask me what would happen if he pulled his tec 9 on me, Then reached down under car seat real fast. Almost bad day forever for him. His family was livid with me then him when heard all of the story.
 
a guy in Reno,NV was blinded by paintball drive by shooting

some lowlife teens shot a guy they thought was homeless with a paint ball gun.
Hit him in the face and now he is blind:fire:
obviously not realizing that I was staring at real weapons.

They are real weapons, shoot back, they are trying to maim you
 
They are not real weapons. They were not designed with the intention to cause damage to their target. They are designed to safely mark other people with paint for a game. But they can cause damage if they hit you in the eye, just like any other hard object in the world, from a thrown can of soda to a paper airplane. And it's certainly reasonable to believe they are real weapons when someone is shooting them at you at night. I also would've shot.
 
:fire: I was the victim of a pass by paint ball shooting between Kane Pa and Johnsonburg Pa. The car passed the truck (TANKER FULL OF GAS)I was driving . Did not know this until I arrived at delivery point. I saw something flash in the headlights (9:30 pm) as the car passed. It hit the passenger side mirror and splatteered on the side window. Did not make as much noise as the ICE BALL that some juvies threw at the truck hitting the pass. side windshield:cuss: .My old man saw me throw something at a truck years ago and tanned my butt . These kids need to be punished for felony use of a firearm:banghead: rant off
 
Even if you KNOW they are paintball guns, you would be forgiven for returning fire. Paintball guns can cause permanent injury without proper equipment on the recieving end, and that's when they are shooting at controlled velocities with controlled projectiles. You have NO reason to assume that they are firing actual paintballs or that the velocity dial isn't cranked all the way up, or both.
 
If a few misguided teens perish playing with their fake guns, so be it, the survivors can learn from their mistakes is my point of view. These kids should all have the book thrown at them, but then again, they are probably the victims in todays lame a** judicial system, not the people they maimed.

You go pull a toy gun on a 7-11 clerk, your going to jail for armed robbery, toy gun or real gun. I see no difference here.

Shots fired at me are met with shots fired back, them using a toy is not my problem. I've seen that video, none of the attacked people really had time to do anything but bail for cover. I recall one guy crashing his bike into a dumpster, ouch. That should land the perps an assault charge at the bare minimum and about 1000 hours of scooping up dog and cat crap at their local humane society.....with a teaspoon. It should also remove the privilege of them ever having any firearm in my opinion.

Youth comes with some hard lessons, this stunt could get them killed. Unfortunately, these punks probably won't see the danger in this activity until someone actually takes one of them out thinkin they are in a genuine self defense scenario.

Why would you feel sorry for doing something that you thought was necessary to protect your life. The poor judgement is in their lap, not their victims.
 
I knew a guy who used to think it was fun to freeze paintballs, turn his gun's velocity way up, and go out shooting cats and dogs. There were several pet fatalities from his actions. I witnessed this once and tried to talk him out of it. He wouldn't quit so I turned him in. In the eyes of the law he was treated as though he'd shot those animals with a "real gun".

Seeing the aftermath on a couple of the animals I felt it was the correct decision. Don't underestimate what a malicious person can do with a paintball gun.

If someone points what appears to be a firearm at me I will respond in kind if I have the chance. I do wonder how I'd be affected by that psychological reaction of figureing out if I'd actually been shot or not.
 
A few years ago

in NYC a PO was called to a halloween party, a man there, dressed as a PO saw him and pulled his toy gun, the real PO pulled his real gun and killed the party goer.
 
Welcome to another episode of the Darwin awards. If someone is sticking a barreled object that is firing projectiles out of the window of a car I doubt anyone would be standing there analyzing the hopper and Co2 tank design. If the kids get hurt by someone firing back, it's they're own [censored] fault
 
A couple years ago I was standing outside a cafe with some friends when a similar situation occurred. I had noticed the car, a dark SUV, slowing as it approached and started to pay greater attention. The passenger side window was down and I saw a barrel come up. I was about halfway to being on target when I saw the hopper on top of the paintball gun. Finger never got to the trigger but I caught a paintball about 2" above my right eye.
 
Hmmm .. saw this on an episode of CSI one night. I fully believe that paintball guns can kill, quite easily. I've been hit by some jackwad that turned his pressure up AFTER he got into the zone, and AFTER his gun was checked by the guys who ran the place to make sure his pressure was down to something safe. It left a huge bruise for two weeks. I woud have hated to been hit with it at full blast.
 
It's amazing how similar a .68 caliber paintball barrel (the most common size) resembles the barrel of a shotgun. As a former paintballer, such behavior sickens me because it hurts other people and hurts the sport's reputation. A paintball can EASILY blind a human being. I'd hate to see the results of a frozen paintball against an infant. I have a small scar from a paintball that broke skin because some idiot was shooting upwards of 320 fps.

As for how I'd react, I don't think I'd fire at a moving vehicle just because there's too much that can go wrong and I have not been trained to do so. I'd probably just hit the deck and cover my head. :uhoh:
 
If you knew it was a paintball marker, and some kid was unloading on you, could you draw on him? A shot directly to the eye has a good chance of blinding you, a shot near the eye can still blind you.
 
I played once with my nephews (12 and 14 yrs old) with whom I often target shoot/hunt. Not again, thanks. I didn't like how much I was enjoying making the little guys dance and, once more, didn't like feeling like tenderized meat afterwards for weeks. I let them 'get me' to even the score--I was wearing a tee shirt and short pants. BIG mistake.

I did not anticipate how nasty those things are and think they deserve a great deal more respect than they are often afforded by youths who (more likely than not I'll bet) have never had any experience with or training in safe gun handling and shooting. I wouldn't seek any special laws regulating them but think parents need to be involved where they often aren't. Once again, my bet is that non- 'real' gun parents see them as toys and give them too easy a pass on safety training.
 
It's amazing how similar a .68 caliber paintball barrel (the most common size) resembles the barrel of a shotgun. As a former paintballer, such behavior sickens me because it hurts other people and hurts the sport's reputation.
Agreed. As an avid paintballer, I do not play with those who will not respect the safety rules of the sport, which includes an appropriate mask. The four rules apply to markers as well. I generally play woodsball and lately I have gravitated toward more private games due to the immaturity of some participants.
Hmmm .. saw this on an episode of CSI one night.
Watching CSI was your first mistake.
I fully believe that paintball guns can kill, quite easily. I've been hit by some jackwad that turned his pressure up AFTER he got into the zone, and AFTER his gun was checked by the guys who ran the place to make sure his pressure was down to something safe. It left a huge bruise for two weeks. I woud have hated to been hit with it at full blast.
Would you be able to pull up a documented instance of a paintball marker being used to kill someone?

It is undeniable that a person can be blinded by one. That is why appropriate eye protection is always worn. There have been instances of the pressure being overloaded intentionally and the ball penetrating the mask, but at that point, the velocity had been sufficiently slowed as to prevent significant eye damage. The only recorded instances I have seen have been where no eye protection was being used.
 
A paintball drive by shooting is an excellent way to get your self killed.

Enough said...
 
http://www.nowpublic.com/node/30884

Plenty of cases of stupidity with paintball. Kids passing around a paintball gun, somehow a screw get's in the barrel and went off striking child in the eye. High School students shooting back and forth at each other from SUV's, one SUV rolling over killing the kid. 12-15 kids hiding in a cornfield shooting passing cars, one guy came back and shot into the conrfield with a shotgun killing one kid. The link above is the closest I can find to a paintball marker itself causing a death, even then it would appear to be struck by paintball, head hit pavement. It's just like the Brady's, dig enough, spin it enough and you have your story
 
there was a case I posted here (years ago)

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=65892&highlight=paintball

At least I thought I posted it....hmmmmm

Party fun turns tragic
A paintball gun's gas canister hits and kills a Cameron Park mom in a freak accident.

By Niesha Gates -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Mark Contois was standing by his wife at their 10-year-old son's birthday party Monday when the freak paintball accident happened. Within seconds, Colette Contois, 37, was dead.

Authorities said she was killed instantly when a carbon dioxide canister inexplicably shot out from a paintball gun that a teen was taking apart.

"We were all breaking down the guns, and Colette was standing next to me, on my right," Mark Contois said. "Then I heard a bang, and her head fell on my shoulder."

Mark Contois, an El Dorado County social worker, gently placed his wife on the ground and checked for a pulse but found none. He prayed while administering CPR to no avail.

"I knew she was gone when her head was on my shoulder," he said Tuesday in his Cameron Park home.

El Dorado County sheriff's detectives ruled her death an accident, said Lt. Kevin House, spokesman for the Sheriff's Department.

The investigation revealed that when the paintball gun was being disassembled, a brass fitting on the carbon dioxide cartridge malfunctioned and didn't stay attached to the cartridge. Pressure from the gas turned the canister into a projectile, House said.

An autopsy is scheduled for today to determine a formal cause of death.

No charges will be filed against the 16-year-old boy whose paintball gun malfunctioned, House said.

According to her husband, Colette Contois loved throwing parties for family and friends and was looking forward to Monday's birthday celebration for her 10-year-old son Caleb and his best friend at the ROA Paintball game field near Placerville.

On Tuesday, counselors and psychologists were helping students and faculty members at Rescue School, where Colette was a speech therapist.

Sandee Barrett, principal of the kindergarten-through-grade-five elementary school, said Contois was a wonderful teacher who was adored by her students.

"She took a keen interest in her children and everyone else's children," Barrett said. "It's a tremendous loss to everyone, and it's very difficult to understand why someone so young and so vibrant could be gone."

At the family home in Cameron Park, family, friends and neighbors gathered to lend support to her children, Caleb and Leia, 12, and her husband, Mark.

"She had an awesome ability to bring people together," said Mark Contois. "She sincerely loved people and was very loved in return."

Sitting in a room filled with his wife's neatly organized scrapbooking supplies, Contois described what happened.

He said the party began with a prayer led by the paintball field's owner. "He prayed over the players and that we would all be safe and have a good time," Contois said.

Also playing on the field that day was a group of teenage boys who were showing the younger boys how to play and where to hide, Contois said. The playing stopped around 2 p.m., when both groups returned to the picnic tables to disassemble the paintball guns, which had been rented from the facility.

Bob McGuire, president of the American Paintball League and the Paintball Training Institute, said there is a test typically conducted on paintball guns, which are called "markers." The "valve twist test" is intended to keep accidents with the gas cartridges from occurring, he said.

"If the valve is not securely fastened, (the cartridge) could screw off from the valve instead of from the marker," McGuire said during a phone call from the training institute's Tennessee headquarters.

McGuire said paintball facilities are required to meet standards set by the American Society of Testing and Materials in order to qualify for insurance. However, he said, paintball facilities are not required to carry insurance, and the standards are voluntary otherwise.

McGuire also said he has not heard of other fatal accidents.

"It's a very unfortunate circumstance, but I don't see that it will change the procedures that are currently in place at paintball facilities," McGuire said.

Officials at ROA Paintball, which is a member of the Christian Paintball Players Association, declined to comment Tuesday.

Mark Contois said he is not contemplating filing a civil lawsuit. Rather, he said he would like to see a change in the way the paintball guns are dismantled, such as constructing barriers between people, so as to prevent other accidents from happening.

A memorial service will be held for Colette Contois at 10 a.m. Saturday at Green Valley Community Church, 3500 Missouri Flat Road, Placerville.
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:barf: I saw that video a while back and all of the bystanders where complete idiots. One even said "I thought I was dead for a couple seconds after they shot me." :confused: I usually go paintballing in shorts it hurts about half as much as getting shot with an airsoft gun, exept when you get a blister. Liars, they just said what ever the camera man told them to.:barf:
 
I believe that the best tactical response to an unknown barreled weapon being pointed at you from a vehicle would be first to take cover and/or increase distance while drawing your CW. You could be faced with a shotgun rather than a paintball gun.
 
:uhoh: I have never done that before :scrutiny:

hehe. It was with highschool kids though. They were playing tag and they all parked their cars in a parking lot. My friend was driving with g'ma glasses on and a scarf so they didn't notice. Then *pow* my other friend and I popped out of the seats and started shooting 3 paintball guns all together. They knew they were paintball guns but they were going crazy. It was so much fun and then they tried to chance us in cars but we disappeared into the night :p

I understand doing it to people you know (under 18) but not to random people on the street who could have real guns.
 
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