Man, Teenager Shoot Boys At Lakeland Ballpark: Sheriff

LAKELAND, FL — A man and teenager shot at children with a pellet gun as they drove around in a white Mercedes Wednesday night at a baseball park in Lakeland.

Suspect Jordan Hawes, 18, drove the car in the 3930 Ball Park Road area as a 17-year-old shot at the boys just before 6:45 p.m., deputies said. Three boys, between the ages 10-13, were struck by pellets. Hawes is accused of filming the teenager with his cell phone as he shot at the children.

Detectives took the pellet gun and Hawes' cell phone as evidence when they were arrested on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

“The suspects thought it would be funny to shoot at children with their pellet gun," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "Clearly, it wasn’t fun for the children; they could have been seriously injured by the pellets. In fact, there was a warning right on the gun that stated that it could cause serious injury.”

The three boys experienced welts and redness from the pellets. No injuries were reported.

The type of pellet gun they used is a Splat-R-Ball Water Bead Blaster Rifle. It is designed to fire 7.5mm water beads at a rate of 8 per second at a velocity of 200-feet per second, police said. The pellets are meant to be soaked in water to be softened.

*Patch will not release the name of the 17-year-old because he is a minor.