Davis police are investigating a series of reports of people being shot at with paintball guns while bicycling and driving through the city over the past several days, some of the incidents resulting in injuries and property damage.
“We’re taking this very seriously, and we want to get to the bottom of this,” Lt. Art Camacho said Tuesday as detectives continued to tally the number of victims involved. “We’re looking at a couple of suspects.”
Camacho noted that the incidents fall under the crimes of battery and vandalism, the latter if the shots cause permanent damage.
Reports began coming in on Saturday afternoon, when a pair of 14-year-old twin boys were struck shortly before 1:30 p.m. by someone firing paintballs from the back seat of a black sedan at the intersection of East Covell Boulevard and Pole Line Road.
The teens’ mother, Megan Wilkinson, told The Davis Enterprise her husband had been on a bike ride with the boys and “was riding out in front of them when he heard a popping noise. He pulled over and noticed that the kids were upset.”
One boy suffered bruising to his arm, while another was struck in the back of his helmet, which prevented an injury to his head.
“I was obviously upset. Nobody wants to hear that somebody is out there shooting at their kids with a paintball gun,” said Wilkinson, who after posting about the incident on her Facebook page learned that others she knew had been victimized as well.
One friend told Wilkinson — and later posted on the Nextdoor social media platform — that her daughter was struck in the leg while rollerblading with her family in South Davis, not long after Wilkinson’s sons were targeted. The shot, one of about 10 reportedly fired at the family that included a toddler, broke the skin and caused significant bruising.
Other online police reports indicate that an F Street apartment complex was hit by paintballs from a passing vehicle at about 2 p.m. Saturday, while a vehicle was struck around 10:20 a.m. Monday as the driver waited in a drive-through lane on Mace Boulevard.
Motorists also have reported having their cars hit on Highway 113 and Interstate 80, including one woman who posted on Nextdoor that her car was struck by three yellow paintballs on westbound I-80 at Mace Boulevard around 1 p.m. Saturday, leaving several dents.
Camacho said any victims who have not filed a report should do so as soon as possible by calling 530-747-5400 and giving the date, time and location of the paintball shooting. Any incident that occurred on a local freeway should be reported to the California Highway Patrol’s Woodland office at 530-662-4685.
Wilkinson said she hopes police are able to identify the culprits, which she suspects might be teenagers out “screwing around” but should still be held accountable.
“We don’t want their lives ruined over this, but they need to know this is not OK,” she said.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene