San Diego Police continued to look for suspects in a series of random paintball assaults in Hillcrest, North Park and Mid City, and are currently working with victims of the crimes to create a sketch of the prime suspect.
“San Diego Police Department is working aggressively to apprehend the suspects in paintball shooting incidents,” said San Diego Councilman Todd Gloria, who represents some of the neighborhoods where the attacks occurred. “I am personally monitoring the situation. If you have information that can help our investigation, please call 619-531-2000.”
The first reported incident was Monday, Jan. 24 at approximately 10:20 p.m. at The LGBT Center in Hillcrest. A dark car pulled up and someone yelled gay slurs and fired into a group of about six people, hitting two of them.
“We have been told that on Monday evening … after The Center had closed, a group of six men who had been at a local coffee shop were returning to their cars, which they had parked at The Center. As the group stood in The Center parking lot, a car pulled up parallel with the parking lot entrance and someone inside the car yelled anti-gay statements then fired paintballs, hitting two of the men,” said The Center’s Chief Executive Officer Dr. Delores Jacobs.
“It scared the hell out of me,” Raymond Penko, one a victims, told NBC San Diego. Penko, who was shot in the head, originally believed the shots were bullets and not paintballs.
The same night, two men walking on Howard Avenue at Idaho Street were fired upon. A few minutes later, another person walking on Howard near 30th Street was shot in the back by a paintball.
The next night, Jan. 25, three additional assaults were reported in Mid City. The first attack of the night occurred around 10:30 p.m. at the Living Room Cafe and Bistro on El Cajon Boulevard, in the College Area. Witnesses report seven people sitting on the outside patio were hit.
Also that night, a pedestrian was hit by paintballs at El Cajon Boulevard and 50th Street in Talmadge, and another was shot near Adams Avenue in Kensington.
All reports describe a dark-colored sedan with multiple people in the vehicle. The incident at The Center was recorded as a hate crime because of the slurs.
“We deplore the use of any anti-gay slurs or violent or threatening acts directed against community members and condemn all violence directed against any individual or group,” Jacobs responded.
“These … incidents are proof that violence is still the way for some people,” said Don Mitchell, Executive Director of the Stonewall Citizens’ Patrol, a volunteer neighborhood watch patrol group operating in the highly diverse Hillcrest, North Park and University Heights areas. “The police do all they can to protect our community, but they need our help. It is incidents like these that we wish to reduce, and we do that by being visible, educating the community and promoting awareness of violent street crime.”
Police officials are working with one of the victims to create a composite sketch of one the attackers, yet are still asking for the public’s assistance with additional information about the crimes. Witnesses to these assaults are asked to call 619-531-2000.
