Merseyside Man Detained After Firing Paintball Gun at Police Officers and members of the Public

A 30-year-old man is currently in police custody in Merseyside, following his arrest in Sefton yesterday for several offences, including dangerous driving, possession of an offensive weapon, assault and criminal damage.

At around 8.25am Merseyside Police received reports yesterday (Sunday 6th August) that a man had fired paint ball pellets at two separate addresses in Sefton, the male was then witnessed by police officers discharging the paint ball gun at a vehicle whilst the occupants were speaking with police to report the previous matter at their home address.

After a short pursuit, the vehicle was stopped by marked police patrols on Dunnings Bridge Road. The driver ran from the vehicle and after discharging more paint ball pellets towards the officers, made off on foot, before he was detained on Galgate Drive.

Following a search of his address in Litherland, a number of additional weapons were also recovered by police.

Detective Inspector Samantha Davies said: “Thankfully no one was seriously injured during this violent attack on our officers and members of the public which also caused damage to police vehicles and cars in the area. “

“Everyday our officers fearlessly put their own lives and personal safety on the line to protect the public and remove such dangerous weapons from our streets.

“Using or carrying these weapons in public is reckless and causes great fear in our community.

“Therefore I hope this arrest shows how committed our local officers are in removing anyone who uses such weapons on our streets and the action we will take to make Merseyside a safer place to live and work.”

If you have any information about dangerous weapons in your community you can pass on any information via DM @MerPolCC, ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ on Facebook. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Always call 999 if a crime is in progress.