Kevmaster
01-14-2004, 01:20 PM
By OREN DORELL, Staff Writer
GARNER -- Garner police Chief Tom Moss said his staff will consider
whether to recommend banning the firing of paintball guns within town
limits, after a recent incident in which a boy was partially blinded in
a drive-by paintball shooting.
Garner investigators are also looking into filing additional charges
against some of the same teens already charged with injuring Chris
Estes, 12, of Raleigh, who was shot in the eye Jan. 5 in Wake County,
said Garner police Officer Jon Blum, the department spokesman.
Four teens were arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon
inflicting serious injury. Arrested were John Lemons, 16, of ------------- Lane; Christopher Robert Tracy, 16, of ------ Road; and Adam
Bennette Nelson, 17, of --------- Road, all of Raleigh; and
Garner resident Kyle David Lindbergh, 16, of -------- Way.
The N.C. Crimes guidebook published by the UNC-Chapel Hill Institute of
Government identifies a deadly weapon as "any instrument that under the
circumstances of that use is likely to cause death or serious bodily
injury."
Blum said the paintball spree apparently began in Garner.
The first known shots occurred about 1 p.m. behind Winn-Dixie at ------------- Blvd., where Julio Vargas of ------------- Ave. in Raleigh
was looking through a Dumpster, Blum said. Vargas "heard three shots
from a paintgun and felt something hot hit him on the leg," Blum said.
Vargas wasn't seriously injured.
About 5:30 p.m., three more paintballs slammed into a window at
Chick-fil-A at ------------- Drive, according to police reports. The paint
washed off and caused no permanent damage. Someone inside Chick-fil-A
recognized the vehicle and helped police identify the driver.
"This kid [the driver] basically admits that the balls were shot from
his car. He didn't know who actually shot it," Blum said. "Actually the
guy in the back seat did. He gave some names of other people who were
actually in the vehicle."
One of the suspects admitted to shooting -------, Blum said.
Maj. T.S. Matthews of the Wake County Sheriff's Office said
investigators are also looking into whether there is a connection
between the incidents Jan. 5 and one that occurred a day earlier on the
----- block of --------- Road. Melissa R. Carroll, 29, of -------- Court in Raleigh was bicycling with her husband and two other
people when a paintball shot from a moving sedan hit her in the arm.
Raleigh police have handled six paintball assaults in 2003, police
spokesman Jim Sughrue said. Four of the six involved unknown attackers,
Sughrue said.
Raleigh and Chapel Hill prohibit discharging paintball guns within city
limits. Several other towns in Wake County do not.
Sgt. Dan Ennis of the Morrisville Police Department, where paintball is
not banned, called paintball "a new problem."
When the devices were first introduced, they didn't have much power,
Ennis said. Most now shoot with velocities approaching 300 feet per
second, however, "and that will hurt you," Ennis said.
In Garner, the ordinance banning the discharge of firearms covers BB
guns, pellet guns and other air-powered devices that fire a metal
projectile. But that excludes paintballs.
Matthews said that politicians will decide but that he doesn't think new
ordinances are necessary.
"We have the necessary statutes to deal with these problems," he said.
"Law enforcement is not going to be able to replace a parent's
responsibility for teaching their children good judgment."
Staff writer Oren Dorell can be reached at 829-8963 or
odorell@newsobserver.com.
link: http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/3218844p-2886384c.html
Note: addresses have been blocked, however the article lists them :/
GARNER -- Garner police Chief Tom Moss said his staff will consider
whether to recommend banning the firing of paintball guns within town
limits, after a recent incident in which a boy was partially blinded in
a drive-by paintball shooting.
Garner investigators are also looking into filing additional charges
against some of the same teens already charged with injuring Chris
Estes, 12, of Raleigh, who was shot in the eye Jan. 5 in Wake County,
said Garner police Officer Jon Blum, the department spokesman.
Four teens were arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon
inflicting serious injury. Arrested were John Lemons, 16, of ------------- Lane; Christopher Robert Tracy, 16, of ------ Road; and Adam
Bennette Nelson, 17, of --------- Road, all of Raleigh; and
Garner resident Kyle David Lindbergh, 16, of -------- Way.
The N.C. Crimes guidebook published by the UNC-Chapel Hill Institute of
Government identifies a deadly weapon as "any instrument that under the
circumstances of that use is likely to cause death or serious bodily
injury."
Blum said the paintball spree apparently began in Garner.
The first known shots occurred about 1 p.m. behind Winn-Dixie at ------------- Blvd., where Julio Vargas of ------------- Ave. in Raleigh
was looking through a Dumpster, Blum said. Vargas "heard three shots
from a paintgun and felt something hot hit him on the leg," Blum said.
Vargas wasn't seriously injured.
About 5:30 p.m., three more paintballs slammed into a window at
Chick-fil-A at ------------- Drive, according to police reports. The paint
washed off and caused no permanent damage. Someone inside Chick-fil-A
recognized the vehicle and helped police identify the driver.
"This kid [the driver] basically admits that the balls were shot from
his car. He didn't know who actually shot it," Blum said. "Actually the
guy in the back seat did. He gave some names of other people who were
actually in the vehicle."
One of the suspects admitted to shooting -------, Blum said.
Maj. T.S. Matthews of the Wake County Sheriff's Office said
investigators are also looking into whether there is a connection
between the incidents Jan. 5 and one that occurred a day earlier on the
----- block of --------- Road. Melissa R. Carroll, 29, of -------- Court in Raleigh was bicycling with her husband and two other
people when a paintball shot from a moving sedan hit her in the arm.
Raleigh police have handled six paintball assaults in 2003, police
spokesman Jim Sughrue said. Four of the six involved unknown attackers,
Sughrue said.
Raleigh and Chapel Hill prohibit discharging paintball guns within city
limits. Several other towns in Wake County do not.
Sgt. Dan Ennis of the Morrisville Police Department, where paintball is
not banned, called paintball "a new problem."
When the devices were first introduced, they didn't have much power,
Ennis said. Most now shoot with velocities approaching 300 feet per
second, however, "and that will hurt you," Ennis said.
In Garner, the ordinance banning the discharge of firearms covers BB
guns, pellet guns and other air-powered devices that fire a metal
projectile. But that excludes paintballs.
Matthews said that politicians will decide but that he doesn't think new
ordinances are necessary.
"We have the necessary statutes to deal with these problems," he said.
"Law enforcement is not going to be able to replace a parent's
responsibility for teaching their children good judgment."
Staff writer Oren Dorell can be reached at 829-8963 or
odorell@newsobserver.com.
link: http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/3218844p-2886384c.html
Note: addresses have been blocked, however the article lists them :/