All it takes to shatter a tempered glass window into a zillion tiny pieces is one tiny sharp and hard point, such as the point inside the black plastic end of this tool:
It's not implausible that it was an air rifle.
Posted on 05/12/2009 7:48:13 AM PDT by Califreak
The California Highway Patrol is on a manhunt for the person using vehicles on a stretch of Bay Area freeway for target practice.
At least 10 cars on Interstate 680 near the Fremont-Sunol border have been riddled with pellets over the past week or so, leaving the people inside rattled with fear. Five of the shootings happened within a five minute span on Saturday.
Tom Loker was driving on 680 north of Fremont Saturday at about 11:45 p.m. when his car was hit.
"All of a sudden we heard a bang." Loker explained, "It sounded like a gun shot or a small explosion and then a millisecond later, the window on the passenger side blew into the car, shattering glass all over the seat and all over my wife, although she was uninjured."
Loker's son was asleep in the back seat of the car when the car was hit. He was unharmed
The five cars hit Saturday were traveling between Washington and Mission Boulevard on 680. One person suffered minor injuries from the broken glass.
The CHP says they believes the shooter was in a stationary spot off the freeway firing pellets from an air rifle.
Loker is convinced that it was much more than a pellet that came shattered his car window amd sent shockwaves through his family, "If you look at the pictures you'll see ... if that's a pellet, I'll eat somebody's shoes."
Officers say if your car gets hit while driving, pull off to a safe location and call 911.
No way am I buying that it was an airgun or a pellet gun after I saw the pictures on the news.
Bay Area ping
Here it comes! More anti gun legislation.
Was this in Perata’s district?
I thought there was a gun ban down there.
Ya’ll have enough crap to deal with in Alameda/Contra Costa County ya dont need some sick person taking shots at the cars on the freeway.
Thank God no one has been hurt.
I bet other than fear the Dad who had his son in the backseat when shot at is reeeeeally P O ed.
Hope they catch the creep ASAP.
The nature of tempered safety glass is if it breaks at all the whole piece shatters. Kind of hard to imagine a pellet having enough energy to break it in the first place though unless it was onw of those precharged air guns.
Ellen Corbett & Alberto Torrico
Wow! A pellet? I’ll take one!
Heard this on the radio today. It’s part of my daily commute, nice upper middle class neighborhoods in the area.
All it takes to shatter a tempered glass window into a zillion tiny pieces is one tiny sharp and hard point, such as the point inside the black plastic end of this tool:
It's not implausible that it was an air rifle.
A CO2 powered pellet gun won’t knock over a soda can even if it’s close once the CO2 gets low.
It couldn’t possibly shatter a car window.
Probably not even it was tweaked by Tim the Toolman.
Kids rode through the nieghborhood with pellet guns a few years back shooting out car windows for fun. Got six or seven cars.
Most of the side windows looked like his.
Still, if it was a pellet rifle it would have had to been close.
Even if it was an air rifle, wouldn’t the shooter have to be awful close?
Some of the new pellet rifles will get a .22 pellet over 1000 fps, that isn’t anything to sneeze at.
When I was a kid my old Crossman 760 would bust a car’s side window (not front, with the plastic liner) in the junk yard at 100 yards easy.
There are a number of air rifles capable of producing projectile velocities greater than 1000 fps. I’d say that would easily shatter tempered safety glass.
It just didn’t seem possible, but goodness knows I’m no gun expert.
Thanks to all of those who responded.
Hmmm... The guy can tell how long a millisecond is. And... The report traveled faster than the bullet. Hmmm...
Yeah, I wondered about that too.
a LOT of the new spring/air pellet rifle will bust a window.
There are units, that even in .22 or 5mm, will power out over 1100fps.
A 22 long rifle is lsted at 1080 fps w/ 40 gr solid
If you haven’t looked at air rifles of late,try
http://www.airgundepot.com/22caliber-air-rifles.htm
(nothing for my cookpot, just a very comprehensive site for seeing the extreme range of products offered)
The web also hosts webrings dealing with air rifle hunting or pest control.
All that said, I hope they get this nutter locked up fast.
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This kinda thing could lead to a very long thread....LOL....
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