Victim of BB Gun Shooters Says, “Having 3 Dudes Getting Out of a Car Coming at Me Was Really Scary"

Victim of BB Gun Shooters Says, “Having 3 Dudes Getting Out of a Car Coming at Me Was Really Scary"

One of the victims of the three juveniles who terrorized Providence on July 8 and into July 9 tells GoLocal of how he was shot, then chased and left with an overall feeling of terror.

The five-hour-plus odyssey involved more than a dozen people being shot by realistic-looking guns.

One of the victims of the shootings tells GoLocal of how he was terrorized.

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Just three weeks after this man was shot, just blocks away 24-year-old Warwick native Miya Brophy-Baermann was shot and killed this past early Sunday morning on Olney Street on the East Side of Providence. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: GoLocal agreed not to use his name and has confirmed that he was a victim of the incident.

 

Victim's Story

“The night that it happened, I was walking my dog on Pratt Street, probably around 1 AM,” said the victim of the BB gun rampage in July. 

“This convertible pulls up, and these guys are sitting up in the back, and they start shooting me with what I believe were airsoft guns. I thought it was kids just messing with me,” he said.

"Airsoft guns are kind of like BB guns — it’s a gun that shoots something hard and plastic, all I know is I got hit, it hurt, and I was bleeding. So I ducked behind a parked car. Then the car with the kids stopped and three guys got out of the car," he tells GoLocal.

"I don’t know how old they were — I’m guessing late teens — two went around the front [of the car I was hiding behind] and one around back. It all happened so fast," he added. "I wasn't going to find out what they wanted. My dog and I took off in the opposite direction the car wasn’t facing. A couple of them chased us for about half a block."

"When I got home I called 911 right away, who told me the police were in pursuit [of the suspects].  I saw the reports about the chase, and the kids getting arrested," he said.

"It was really scary, and I’m a big guy. In hindsight, I guess I’m OK. But at the time, three dudes getting out of a car coming at me, it was really scary. Were they trying to steal my dog? So I ran. I wasn’t going to fight three guys. Then to see the girl killed just blocks from us this week...I don’t know if it’s post-pandemic, or kids just acting out, I just don't know," he said.

"I saw where one of the officers is under investigation [for his actions when the suspects were arrested]. I understand that police have to be concerned with their use of power, but shooting at people, making cars crash — I don’t know — it’s a lot," he added.

Providence Police Officers Domingo Diaz and Mitchel Voyer have been placed on leave and face potential charges by Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha.