Opa-locka Paintball Shooting leads to 10 year old boy shot by homeowner. Michael Williams, boy’s father charged with child neglect with great bodily harm.
A 10-year-old Miami boy was shot after his father took him on a faux drive-by shooting with a paintball gun over the weekend — only for a frightened homeowner who believed themselves to be under mortal assault, returning fire with real bullets, according to reports.
Michael Williams, 26, allegedly capitulated to his son’s pleas late Sunday to take him on a paintball ‘drive-by shooting,’ where police said the boy fired off the un-lethal rounds into a crowd gathered in the front yard of an Opa-locka home, the Miami Herald reported.
But the homeowner, Gregory Barns, thought the gunfire was real and that ‘he and his family were under attack’ — leading him to return fire with a real round, striking the child, police said.
According to the arrest report, Williams sped off while the side doors were still open, which caused his son to loose balance and fall to the ground. The youngster, who was not publicly identified, was then run over by his father’s van after being shot and losing his balance, police said according to local10.
Police said Williams finally stopped the van and ran back to his son to help him. Williams drove the child home and his mother called 911, according to police.
A supposed prank that nearly turned deadly
The boy was hospitalized after the shooting, but was expected to recover, WSVN reported.
Williams told WSVN that a group of neighborhood kids were running around and shooting paintballs at each other.
Another child said the group ended up in front of the home where Williams’ son was shot.
‘I guess the man didn’t see what type of gun it was, he just shot him,’ the child’s father told WSVN.
But now for the part the dad didn’t tell WSVN.
Neighbors, meanwhile, told WSVN that they saw the duo driving around with ski masks on.
‘The guy riding around with kids in the car with their ski masks and hoodies on, and they were apparently shooting at people,’ resident Maurice Adams said.
Parenting skills
‘We never had this as kids, never. We played baseball with tennis balls in the street. We never had to worry about anything like this. This is crazy.’
The Miami Herald reports the father was charged with child neglect with great bodily harm. According to a police report, Williams ‘acted recklessly by agreeing to conduct a drive-by paint ball shooting.’
It was not clear if Williams had an attorney who could comment on the charge.
Opa-locka is a city about 15 miles northwest of Miami.
