MIAMI (WSVN) - A South Florida man is reeling, hours after he thought he found himself under fire, only to realize he had been shot multiple times with paintball pellets.
Thorris Allen’s canary yellow polo shirt is filled with orange stains in the back, chest and neck areas.
The Miami resident said he was walking home, Friday evening, when a car turned the corner of Northwest 71st Street and Second Avenue and discharged a paintball gun.
“I thought I was gone,” he said. “‘Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow!'”
It took a moment for Allen to realize that wasn’t blood on his clothes.
“I thought that I was hit. I thought that someone was shooting guns at me, and I could feel it,” he said.
Allen said the car was moving so quickly after having made a left turn that he was unable to get a good look at the gun or the shooter.
This guy thought he was hit in a #Miami drive-by but was lit up with paint instead. @wsvn #7News #Exclusive pic.twitter.com/Bx4lOXQYXb
— Sheldon Fox-7 News (@fox_sheldon) June 23, 2018
Witness Steven Stennett called 911 after Allen showed him where he was struck.
“He was showing me these indentations,” said Stennett. “I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, if a bullet has hit him and he hasn’t stopped bleeding yet.”
Photographs capture City of Miami Police officer and Allen at the scene of the incident. Even from a distance, the large orange splotches on Allen’s polo shirt are clearly visible.
If found, witnesses said, the paint-firing subjects will have to answer for two shootings.
The second victim declined to speak on camera but told 7News he had his skin pierced. He was treated by paramedics at the scene.
“They could have put out somebody’s eye,” said Stennett. “While it’s happening, you don’t know that it’s paint pellets.”
Meanwhile, Allen has a message for the people behind the drive-by paintball ambush.
“I want them to know that we are not tolerating this, I’m not afraid of them, and that they will be caught,” he said.
At least one nearby business has surveillance cameras, but it’s unclear whether they captured the incident.
If you have any information that could help police, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
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