Paintball attacks mar Schenectady holiday; two youths arrested

PHOTOGRAPHER: Kathleen Moore

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Halloween was ambushed by youths who didn’t want treats Monday.

Police were sent out in force to track down multiple reports of youths shooting paintball guns at houses and passersby during the night’s trick-or-treating.

On Hamilton Hill, several youths drove through the streets shooting paintballs from a car window, police spokesman Lt. Mark McCracken said.

They were aiming at pedestrians, he said. At least one child was struck.

Other youths shot houses with paintballs in Mont Pleasant and Woodlawn, he said.

On Bradford Road, a confrontation between paintball shooters and residents turned violent.

Police were called by residents on Bradford Road who reported that their houses were being shot with paintballs. They described a group of five people who appeared to be teenagers.

Before police arrived, a 50-year-old man chased the teenagers down the street. They turned and shot him twice at close range, McCracken said.

He was sent to the hospital with neck and facial injuries. His glasses were also broken.

Four of the five accused vandals fled when police arrived, but they caught one and apprehended a second one a short time later, McCracken said. Officers were still searching the city for other paintball-shooting youths.

Police were not sure whether their suspects were old enough to be charged with a crime. If they are under the age of 16, they will be sent to Family Court, McCracken said.

Last winter, an occupied house at the edge of Vale Cemetery was repeatedly targeted by vandals who shot out most of the windows with paintballs and BBs. Police increased patrols and the attacks stopped, but officers never caught the vandals.