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'Sickening' Paintball Attacks Wound Family Dog, Residents in 2 Incidents

By Linze Rice | February 11, 2016 5:42am | Updated on February 11, 2016 7:15pm
 Mugsy, the 9-year-old dog of Edgewater couple Lisa and Chris, was pelted with paint balls that left him physically hurt and emotionally traumatized.
Mugsy, the 9-year-old dog of Edgewater couple Lisa and Chris, was pelted with paint balls that left him physically hurt and emotionally traumatized.
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EDGEWATER — An Edgewater woman says an incident in which someone randomly fired paintball pellets at her husband as he was walking their nine-year-old Old English Bulldog Mugsy Tuesday night was "sickening" and "disgusting." It was one of two separate paintball incidents in the area, according to an alderman.

"Just the fact that someone would shoot a dog, I mean for no apparent reason, it's just boggles my mind that anyone would be that low of a human," Lisa said. "Like, they picked just a random person to shoot at."

Lisa, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, said her husband Chris was walking Mugsy around 10:45 p.m. when an older looking, grey Jeep Cherokee drove up to the two, who were in front of their home in the 5900 block of North Paulina Street.

As one of the windows rolled down, Lisa said her husband, a mixed martial arts fighter, instinctively knew something was wrong.

Seconds later, someone from the car unleashed an onslaught of paint pellets at Chris and Mugsy.

"He honestly didn't know if he was being shot by a gun, like a real gun, or paint balls," Lisa said.

Ald. Patrick O'Connor (40th) wrote in an email to residents Thursday afternoon that it was reported another woman was shot at in the 5600 block of North Wayne Avenue just an hour later.

Lisa, who was inside, said she could hear the pellets hitting the side of the building, and even the window to the room where her 4-month-old baby was sleeping.

Chris ran from the attack with Mugsy and headed inside, where he dropped the dog off.

He then went back out, looking to finish the business the shooter had started, Lisa said.

"He's an MMA fighter ... and his first instinct was go back out and drag them out of the car," she said.

By then, the Jeep was gone, but after both Lisa and her neighbor called 911, police arrived shortly after and a police report was filed, she said.

Chicago Police confirmed around 10:53 p.m. that night a man was wounded in his face and body after being shot with a paintball gun.

Her husband was hit in the face and has cuts all over his nose, Lisa said, and Mugsy, an already anxious dog, suffered welts all over his legs and belly. Now, he's scared to leave their courtyard, she said.

It's been an isolated blemish on Lisa and Chris's time in the neighborhood, but left the couple feeling scared.

"That could have been me walking home with my baby," she said. "So yeah now I'm scared to walk from my car at night home. I've always considered this to be a safe neighborhood."

After having their baby, Lisa said the couple began seriously considering leaving the city, an idea bolstered by Tuesday night's attack. On Wednesday evening, she spoke with DNAinfo while on her way to check out a home for sale in the suburbs, she said.

She said she's not only concerned for her own safety, but for the safety of her neighbors, too.

"Just be on guard and look for that car, and call police right away," Lisa said. "It's sickening that anyone would shoot a dog, just disgusting."

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