CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There are growing safety concerns about the possibility of a paintball attack turning even more dangerous.
Homes, cars, even people have been targeted in recent weeks in the so-called “paintball wars”. In one of the latest cases Saturday night, a suspect was caught shooting a moving car on Pegram Street.
Now police are warning of an even worse scenario; an armed person who mistakes the paintball gun for a real gun.
NBC Charlotte found paintballs at the latest scene, which clearly don’t look like bullets, but it might not be as easy to tell if someone is shooting them.
“How soon is it going to be until someone mistakes one of these paintball guns for a gun?,” said Rob Tufano, spokesman for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department.
In the latest case, 18 year-old Nathaniel Butler was cited after police say he was shooting a paintball gun at a moving car. Jail records showed a person with the same name and date of birth had previous arrests.
Legal experts said paintball shooters could be dealing with much more than criminal charges.
“Perhaps even worse than being charged with a crime, they can be the victim of a far more serious offense,” said Missy Owen, a criminal defense attorney.
NBC Charlotte asked Owen about your rights to defend yourself. She said it could be a self-defense case if a paintball gun was mistaken for a real gun.
“If the person you’re firing upon believes that to be lethal force, they can respond with lethal force to defend themselves,” said Owen.
Police are now worried it’s only a matter of time if the trend doesn’t stop.
“We were all kids, we liked to have fun, but something is going to go sideways as sure as I’m standing here,” said Tufano.
The suspect in the latest paintball case was cited, but not arrested. Owen said officers have the authority to determine whether to give a citation or make an arrest in such crimes.