Changing the color of war
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on April 22, 2018 3:05 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Founder of GOAT City Daniel Atkinson, center, poses for a photo in a Goldsboro warehouse Wednesday, surrounded by several other area paintballers. The local group, which hopes the organization of paintball wars will decrease street violence, has been given special permission to use the three-floor building for their events. Pictured from left, Brandon Duren, Steven King, Stanton Head and Jamire Hines.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
GOAT City founder and former gang member Daniel Atkinson looks down the barrel of his paintball gun Wednesday in a Goldsboro warehouse that has been temporarily donated to his group. The group his making a push for paintball wars to lower the amount of real shootings in the area.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Daniel Atkinston stands in one of the many rooms that will be utilized for paintball events hosted by G.O.A.T. City. In addition to the tournaments Atkinson and the group's organizers want to have an event space for rent and youth mentoring facility.
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Submitted photo
Paintball guns seized by Goldsboro police Tuesday following reports of paintballs pelting a Ford Crown Victoria at Ash and Lionel Streets. Three people were issued citations for violating the city ordinance that prohibits discharging paintball guns in the city.
Battles are taking place in neighborhoods and on nearly every corner of the city.
Despite the casulaties, however, at the end of these gun fights, everyone goes home alive.
It's war, but with paintball pellets rather than live bullets.
What started out with a small group of guys more than two months ago, has increased in popularity to a point where teens, young adults and city officials are taking notice.
Players are posting live paintball-shooting videos on Facebook, challenges are being made between players from other cities and at least eight teams -- including GOAT City and the Spider Gang -- have formed in Goldsboro.
"We've been playing paintball for a long time, and so we just decided we're going to crash at each other and it just really got bigger," said Daniel Atkinson, GOAT City founder.
"I had 10 people playing. The next thing, I had a thousand. It blew out of proportion. Then it went from 1,000 to 1,500. Then from this county to that county."
The message behind the movement in the city and beyond is for people to lay down their weapons and bullets and replace them with paintball guns, said Atkinson, a former Crips gang leader.
"We've had people who died on this side, and we've had people who were killed on that side, and everybody got tired of the violence and it just grew up," Atkinson said.
"It's clear now. There ain't been no shootings around here, no deaths since I started. Like I tell people, you rather us hit you with a paintball gun or your house get hit with by a paintball gun then somebody come through with something real.
"When a real bullet going to fly, you can't replace nobody when they get shot."
The city of Goldsboro has not had any deadly shootings this year, but Goldsboro Police Chief Mike West can't verify that shooting activity has reduced because of the uptick in paintball wars. He also said gunshot reports this year are on par with the number recorded the same time last year.
"We're not seeing anything that says that the increase in paintball shootings has decreased real shootings," West said.
Atkinson said the movement has extended beyond Goldsboro after he started reaching out to contacts he has in other cities and states. He asked them, too, to pick up paintball guns and lay down their weapons. He's learned that some people have sold their guns and used the money to buy paintball guns and gear.
"I reached out to a couple people I know from different counties and states and they reached out to guys under them and that's what makes us as big," Atkinson said.
Teams have formed in Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro, Smithfield, Greenville, Wilson, Rocky Mount, Clayton and High Point, he said. Atkinson estimates there are thousands participating, including players in 13 counties where he's made connections.
"I have a lot of counties and different states participating, all the way to Georgia, California," he said. "I got connects out there. I even have some people who turned their guns back in, their real guns in. The thing is, they'll put the gun down and stop the violence.
"It's like, if you've got a good leader, people will follow you."
PAINTBALLS UP,
GUNS DOWN
Atkinson said he can't speak to paintball wars or how they started in other states, with some reports linking the movement to a call by rapper 21 Savage for people to replace guns with paintball guns.
Paintball wars in Goldsboro and other cities have sparked safety concerns and led to property damage and injuries.
Paintball rifles can appear the same as firearms, especially when held in a way that conceals the paintball carbon monoxide tank, which propels paintballs from the barrel, West said.
"The public's not going to know if they're fixing to be shot at by somebody with a paintball gun or a real gun," West said.
"And, if you've got somebody that's got a real gun that feels like their life is in danger, they may be responding with a real gun against the person that's got the paintball gun."
A March 28 assault report in Goldsboro involved a woman who was shot several times by paintballs while walking down the 900 block of Slocumb Street. No arrest has been filed in the case, said Maj. Anthony Carmon.
Paintball shootings that lead to property damage or injury can result in criminal charges, Carmon warned.
Police in the city of Greensboro, one area where GOAT City members have offered up a city-to-city paintball challenge, have been responding to a recent uptick in paintball activity. Greensboro police are linking the Paintballs Up, Guns Down movement to 21 Savage, said Ron Glenn, Greensboro Police Department interim public information officer.
"All of our incidents have included people in vehicles, and they'll shoot paintballs from vehicles," Glenn said. "Here, we've had several incidents where people have been called about paintballs being fired."
CITATIONS,
SHOPLIFTING ARRESTS
Since March 27, Goldsboro police have received 62 paintball-related calls for service and responded to 23 reported incidents, including 12 for property damage and one assault.
On April 10, police arrested two teens and charged them with shoplifting paintball guns from the Dick's Sporting Goods near the Berkeley Mall.
After taking time to review the city's ordinance involving firearms and air guns, police started issuing citations this week. The ordinance states that it's unlawful in the city to shoot or discharge firearms, including pistols or guns, air rifles, spring guns or slingshots or similar devices, including a crossbow. The ordinance applies to firing paintball guns, BB guns and pellet guns, West said.
"It's the firing of a projectile," Carmon said. "With a pellet gun or BB gun, it's still compressed air, just like a paintball. It's not a safe thing to do."
A citation includes a designated court date, which can lead to a fine and court costs, and paintball guns can be confiscated, Carmon said.
Goldsboro police seized several paintball guns Tuesday, following a property damage report where a Ford Crown Victoria was pelted with blue paintballs, which are about the size of a marble.
"It was Carolina blue on a silver Crown vic," West said.
Officers responded to the intersection of Ash and Lionel streets where people were seen jumping out of a 2011 Dodge Durango and shooting paintballs at the vehicle. Officers tracked down the suspects and cited three people with violating the city ordinance. They also seized their paintball guns -- one rifle and two handguns.
The city ordinance allows officers to seize paintball guns, which become evidence as part of the case. Each paintball gun has an estimated value of $75, according to police reports.
Incidents across the city so far include Corporate Drive near the Serena Inn, Wilmington Avenue, Virginia, Beale, Ash, Maple, Elm, Chestnut, William, John, Center and Rudolph streets and Eastgate, Carver and Parkway Drive and Olivia Lane.
One property damage report included a vehicle that was pelted with yellow paintballs, on March 28, at Dunham's Sports on Berkeley Boulevard.
GROUND RULES
Police started seeing an uptick in paintball activity in the city around the same time when the popularity of the game and the number of players increased.
Atkinson has about 1,600 followers on Facebook, including the closed group, GOAT City, he created after playing the game about a month. The site also helped to better organize the activity in Goldsboro, he said.
The increasing popularity of paintball wars has resulted in the battles taking place in nearly every area of the city, based on police reports.
"They're doing it on foot," West said. "They're doing it in vehicles. I think the reason why you're seeing why it's so broad throughout the city is because they're doing it from vehicles. They're getting all over the city and riding around looking.
"In their mind, it's a game. They're looking for a certain individual to shoot them with a paintball gun, and they're going to drive all over the city until they find that individual."
As Atkinson started to see the game increase in popularity, he laid down ground rules for players.
"I apply the rules and enforce them, like no high-speed chase in the city, no innocent people or property or public areas, and I put that out there to the community," Atkinson said.
"I made a statement on Facebook Live telling people that if you break these rules by speeding through the city, you can be charged. If you shoot somebody innocent, you can be charged.
"The people getting citations and doing what they're doing, they know what they're doing, so it won't fall back on me because I put the rules out there."
The rules also include no shooting at children and no activity in highly concentrated public areas. He also said the paintball wars don't involve random targets.
"For the most part, nobody really (has) to worry about the safety," Atkinson said.
He said some residents told Atkinson they now feel safer in Goldsboro and aren't as afraid to step outside or allow children outdoors.
"I have people I don't know and a lot of people who have been reaching out to me saying, 'Thank you. Now, since you've done this, my kids can go outside and play. I can walk to the store. I can have a cookout in my front yard, you know, I can be in my backyard,'" he said.
"They ain't worried about people coming through with real guns and shooting, like it used to be."
Paintball players involved in the game are asked to check in on Facebook, otherwise shooting paintballs at non-players isn't allowed, he said.
West said it appears that players are targeting other players, and no anyone at random.
"To me, right now, what it looks like is, they're targeting specific individuals," West said. "I think the random stuff is when they can't find, I guess, the individual they're looking for and they decide to shoot at a railroad sign or shoot a warehouse of shoot a building. That's more random."
ALTERNATIVES
TO STREET BATTLES
In more recent weeks, Atkinson started to look for a building where players could continue paintball wars in a safer location. He contacted Mayor Chuck Allen, who worked out an agreement to allow Atkinson to use a downtown warehouse he co-owns, at no cost. Atkinson says it could take close to 90 days to get the building ready for use.
Allen is also working on another outdoor property, a 100-acre site off U.S. 117.
"We're trying to give them a place where they can do this and do it safely and not up and down the streets of Goldsboro, like they are now," Allen said.
"My hope is they're going to police themselves as much as they can."
Allen's motivation is also tied to his interest in finding ways to reduce violence in Goldsboro. He said he's willing to give the effort a chance.
"In the last two years, we've had 22 murders and one of the things I've focused on heavily is (to find ways to) cut back in the number of murders and the number of shootings," he said.
"I've come to the realization that we're not going to police ourselves out of it."
Bobby Harvey, a local business owner and one of the leaders of the 100 Fold mentoring program, is also pitching in by working with Atkinson to secure an area paintball site.
On Saturday, the first Community Paintball Day was held at McCoy Paintball Center in Princeton. Harvey, who started to learn about the increased activity in Goldsboro, got on board in an effort to try and find a place where players can have shoot-outs without possibly facing charges or citations.
Paintball days are being planned, possibly once a week in Princeton, until the Goldsboro warehouse is ready.
"You want them to do this as much as possible," Harvey said.
"You just have to find ways to do it. You've got to find a way to harness this. I personally support anything that young kids do that keep them busy."
'ADRENALINE RUSH'
Paintball wars -- fueled by social media -- are catching fire partly from the adrenaline rush, Atkinson said.
Area paintball teams are increasing, with the start of at least two women's teams -- Purple Irish and Beauty Queens. Other Goldsboro teams are the Take Down Kings, Body Snatchers, 187 Hit Squad and the East End Demons, he said.
"It's something to do," Atkinson said. "It's fun. It relieves a lot of stress. It's just like an adrenaline rush when you've got somebody on the other end of your barrel and you're about to shoot them with a paintball gun but it's not hurting them or killing them.
"It beats the purpose of running on somebody with a real gun and shooting them and they can't get their life back."