Paintball Journal

Well, it’s just the usual story. This time it’s a dude just shooting at random pedestrians from a truck rather than vandalizing some building.

ALBUQUERQUE — An alleged drive-by shooter was arrested Sunday after an officer spotted him firing at pedestrians with a paintball gun, Albuquerque police reported.

“That’s putting other people in danger whether it’s causing stress to someone, causing them to fear for their life, causing them to have a heart attack,â€? Albuquerque Police Department Officer Trish Hoffman said. “All those are factors.”

On Sunday morning, Ernest Jerry Molina is accused of taking those factors for granted while shooting at people from his truck at Central Avenue and Washington Street. An officer reported witnessing the shooting. Molina was thrown in jail, charged with propulsion of missiles.

“The problem with this is the guns look very similar and almost exactly to a regular weapon,� Hoffman said.

Even up close a paintball gun does appear to be a deadly weapon, and it shoots like one.
That’s why it’s taken so seriously by paintball gamers and game centers. A paintball bullet can cause serious injury if hit hard enough and in a vulnerable place.

“If they’re shot in the eye, it will take out an eye it could take an eye out.” Conrad Morawski of Hinkle Family Fun Center said. “If they get shot in the head at 400 feet per second there’s a possibility for brain damage.”

In rare cases, death can even result.

Morawski said that’s why shooting someone unaware of your intentions is a bad idea…

Proper gear needs to be worn, and all players should be up for a paintball shootout.

There are several paintball parks in the area, to play safely.

Molina, who reportedly admitted his actions, is out on bond and id expected in court Tuesday.
No one was hurt in the incident.

What alarmed me was the fact that they really didn’t stress what a paintball could do to the eye. They make it sound as if that’s only a rare case or something. Let’s see, projectile traveling 300fps and impacting a delicate organ…the result isn’t going to be very nice. My uncle is an optometrist, and he has treated a few patients with paintball injuries to the eye. “Blinded for the rest of their life unless they want to pay for a half-million dollar surgery that may or may not get any results.�

I just don’t think the police get it. I mean…losing an eye completely changes your life, and yet these people that do these things still seem to get away with little punishment. Enforcement on this issue definitely needs to be stepped up.