It Felt Like ‘Fire,’ Says Boy Hit in Eye in Paintball Attack

A 13-year-old boy partially blinded in a drive-by paintball shooting faced a bank of TV cameras Tuesday to describe what it felt like to be hit.

“It was a sharp pain,” like “fire,” Sam Applegate, his right eye covered by a silver mesh patch, told reporters gathered at an Orange County sheriff’s substation in Aliso Viejo. “I hope that they get caught.”

The seventh-grader said he was playing basketball with two friends in the gated development of Coto de Caza on March 10 when a dark sedan drove by and one or more occupants shot round after round of paintballs at the boys.

Sam said he was hit in the eye almost immediately and fell to the ground screaming. He said he knew from playing paintball that he had been shot by such a gun.

“It sounds different from a real gun,” he said. “I thought it was just some teenagers on a Friday night doing something stupid.”

Two homes and a guard shack were also hit by paintballs that evening, said Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jim Amormino.

Amormino said authorities had no leads but were confident that Tuesday’s news conference -- plus a $5,000 reward posted by the Applegates and other community members -- would lead to a break in the case.

Sam is recuperating at home after being treated at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. He said the swelling in his eye had gone down and that on good days he could see shadows.

“I don’t like playing video games,” he said. “I’ve been inside for a week and a half, two weeks, and I just can’t wait until I go back outside.”

Linda Applegate, Sam’s mother, said doctors must wait until the blood drains from the eye before determining the extent of the damage, which could result in the loss of sight in it.

Amormino said the paintball shooting was assault with a deadly weapon.

Anyone with information is asked to call (714) 628-7170.