Paintball vandals target buildings, people

Indianapolis - Police are watching for teenagers behind a paintball ambush Tuesday night. Three young men in a car fired at buildings and people on the city's north side.

Why? There is a certain thrill that goes with the preparations. Then comes the ambush. Once its finished, the shooter can live it over and over when it's uploaded to YouTube and other sites where, as the old saying goes it's all fun 'til someone "get's hit in the eye."

"When they're caught they'll be held responsible for their actions," said Sergeant Paul Thompson.

Tuesday night they hit a coffee shop at 74th and Keystone and a business at 56th St. and Illinois. A house in the neighborhood may have been a target as well as the Safeway Supermarket.

They also shot at and hit a WTHR News crew working in the neighborhood. "I tried to get behind the pile of salt bags," said Eyewitness News photographer Tony Fuller, who was setting up a live shot about 10:45pm.

Fuller say a youth "got out from the passenger side window and aimed a gun over the roof." He was hit in the arm and leg by paintballs. Fuller added "(I'm) glad I wasn't hit on the face or the eye."

The shooters, two or three young people, then took off in a dark colored sedan

"The balls do travel at a relative velocity that can do damage to soft tissue. But hit in the eye, the damage can be great. Bruising from paintballs to even chemical reaction to the material inside the paintball," said St. Vincent ER Dr. Ryan Vinus.

There are real health consequences, like the possibility of blindness. Theres' legal issues too.

"If there's minor damage it could be a mischief charge," said Sergeant Thompson. "But, if someone strikes someone and causes pain or injury that would be a battery charge." He says, depending on the circumstances, the shooter could face criminal recklessness charges.

"What happens when they fire the weapon at somebody licensed to carry a handgun who thinks they're a victim of an assault with a firearm? They may choose to defend themselves and fire back."

A paintball prank can also turn deadly. Yellow spatter could turn blood red.