4 Held in Paint-Ball Shooting Rampage

Two Van Nuys men and two students from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys were arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon after shooting at least two people with paint-ball rifles early Friday along Sherman Way between Lindley and Winnetka avenues, authorities said.

Ruffy Joson Flores and Malcolm David Boyd, both 18, and the two 17-year-olds went on a shooting rampage throughout the west San Fernando Valley, attacking pedestrians, bicyclists and transients with carbon dioxide-powered paint-ball rifles and recording it on videotape, police said.

Thomas McDonald, 30, of Reseda was on his way to a store to buy a newspaper about 3 a.m. when he was struck in the face with a paint ball near Sherman Way and Lindley Avenue, police said. McDonald suffered a laceration and “a contusion the size of a golf ball” on his face, according to Los Angeles Police Sgt. Dan Mastro. McDonald was treated by paramedics at the scene, Mastro said.

Moments later, police officers witnessed a paint-ball attack on a man walking a dog near Sherman Way and Winnetka Avenue. Police pulled over a gray car whose passengers had tossed out a paint-ball rifle, Mastro said.

Police also seized a second gun, about 200 paint balls and a video camera. When police reviewed the videotape, it showed more than 20 attacks, including the two incidents that occurred early Friday, Carnahan said.

The rifles, which fire plastic pellets filled with paint, “can take out an eye or cause a head injury, depending on where you hit,” Sgt. Daniel Carnahan said.

Flores and Boyd are being held at the West Valley jail in Reseda, each on $40,000 bail. One juvenile was sent to Sylmar Juvenile Hall; the other was released to his parents.