‘Glass shattering all over my face’: 911 callers describe string of air-gun shootings that damaged 15 cars on I-4

The Orlando Sentinel ^ | January 2, 2020 | Tess Sheets

[GingisK]

I think that those rings indicate it was probably more than a BB. It is far enough from the side margin on an interstate highway to the car lanes for a BB to have lost most of its energy.

Have you ever seen the cool glass cones that drop out of plate glass when it is hit with a BB? Sigh, I really made too many of those when I was young.

[GingisK]

...My confidence was ill-founded...

You and must have had very similar childhoods. Upon graduating from high school my mother said, "I am actually surprised you lived long enough to graduate".

[GingisK]

I had a .22 caliber Crosman air rifle when I was in high school. At 10 or 12 pumps it was a surprisingly powerful weapon. We could shoot the metal tags off of telephone poles at fifty feet or more.

[gundog]

Mom wasn’t privy to most of my high-risk activities. Just playing around outdoors on the Oregon coast can be life-threatening. Throw in teenage stupidity, and.... well, some didn’t make it.

[gundog]

BWAHAHAHA!!! We loved finding panes of glass that wouldn’t be missed, and popping those out.

“Rings” should be “dings.” .22 would leave more than a ding, I would think. Haven’t kept up with air rifles, much. I’ve got a beater Crosman...maybe I’ll go test the limits on pumping it up.

[gundog]

I think the shooter was mobile, so range may have been much closer.

[gundog]

Not sure of the current state of blow-gun darts. We used to tale 3 foot lengths of electrical conduit, and fashion darts from 6 or 8 penny finish nails, with paper cone stabilizers. I guarantee those puppies would break a car window.

[GingisK]

Oh Lord! I wish we would have thought of making darts that big. We made something similar, but only 3/8” diameter. Those darts were uncannily accurate and could stick in cinder block walls. Field tested: It would also stick in a bully’s ass.

[gundog]

I think we used plastic soda straws for the darts we made by running sewing pins through the back of a pencil eraser. Use the eraser and the crimped metal and add a cigarette fitter to the rear for a tight seal and stabilization.