Police Seek Paint-Ball Shooters

Police are searching for three boys they say shot several paint-ball pellets at a Newport Beach in-line skater Sunday, causing him to fall and crack his head on the concrete.

The skater, Gary Holdren, 54, remains in critical condition at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo. He was shot with the pellets while skating around the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Preserve about 1:30 p.m.

Police are trying to locate three boys whom witnesses saw shooting a paint-ball gun in the area where Holdren was struck. “This appears to be a random incident,” said Lt. Richard Long of the Newport Beach Police Department. “This man was out roller-blading, and he was the victim of a random attack.

“We are hoping one or all three of [the boys] break down and tell their parents what they did, and their parents bring them in.”

Police in Newport Beach and elsewhere said there have been few problems associated with paint-ball guns in Orange County. Using a paint-ball gun outside a licensed facility is illegal in Newport Beach and other cities, Long said.

The guns shoot paint pellets at up to 280 feet per second and look like pistols, rifles, even machine guns. They can cost as much as $1,500. The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that paint-gun injuries account for 1,800 emergency-room visits a year nationwide.