Man Allegedly Shoots Two Over Pelting of His House With Paint
FAIRLESS HILLS, Pa. — Two teenage brothers playing with a paint-ball gun given as a Christmas gift found themselves in real gunplay with an irate neighbor, police said Sunday.
Joseph Bachmann Jr., 19, and his father, Joseph Bachmann Sr., 43, were both hospitalized, the father with critical wounds, his son in serious condition, police said. The neighbor, John Mazzone, 64, was jailed on suspicion of attempted murder.
Police in the township near Philadelphia said the paint-ball gun was a Christmas present for Joseph Jr. and his brother, Josh, 13.
The brothers were in the family’s backyard Saturday, firing the paint-spattering toy at the fences and chimneys of neighboring houses when their father came out, told them to stop and went back inside.
Then, Mazzone emerged from his house brandishing a .357-magnum handgun and accused the boys of shooting paint balls at his home, police said.
Mazzone shot Joseph Jr. once in the stomach at point-blank range. When Joseph Sr. came outside to see what was going on, Mazzone shot him four times, police said.
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