Oakland woman shot by paintballs worries calling police will get her attackers killed

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- A terrifying night in Oakland for a 24-year-old woman, who says she was targeted by two young men holding what she thought was a large gun.

"I looked up and saw a kid leaning out of a car window shooting at me, it looked kind of like a machine gun," said the victim, who did not want to be identified.

She says she was riding her bike down MacArthur Blvd near 35th Avenue in Oakland on Sunday night, when she was shot at close range. "I looked down and I had paint and blood on my leg and had been hit a few times on my back."

Surveillance video shows the young woman riding her bike at 6:50 pm.

Twenty-four seconds later, the video shows a white hatchback driving behind the victim, who identified the car to ABC7 as the shooter's car.

The victim says two men in their late teens or early 20's, drove by her in the white car, moments after the video was recorded. She says one of them shot her without saying a word. She quickly realized she had been shot with paintballs and was going to be okay, but was in shock.

Immediately following the incident, she was hesitant to call police because she was afraid the paintball gun might be mistaken for the real thing by responding officers.

"It could have resulted in a fatal injury for either one of us, whether it had been me because I had swerved or been hit or whatever could have happened or them because it looked like they were young people carrying a big gun that could have easily been seen as a real gun."

She realizes young people make mistakes and that her attackers may have thought they were playing a game, but she hopes in the future they will, "consider the fragility of all of our lives."

The victim says she tried calling Oakland Police Sunday night, but was not able to get through to the department on the phone.

ABC7 communicated with OPD about the incident Wednesday night. An officer says they have not seen a pattern of paintball incidents, but that they are concerned and would like to investigate. They say the paintball shooting could be considered assault.

For more stories, photos, and video on recent crimes in Oakland, visit this page.