Miami dad takes 10-year-old son to do ‘paint ball drive by.’ Boy shot by scared resident

Police say a 10-year-old boy approached his father with an unusual request: Could he take him to do a drive-by shooting in Opa-locka with a paint gun? The father, 26-year-old Michael Williams, agreed, detectives say.

Williams’ van pulled up to the house on the 2300 block of Rutland Street, and the boy began to shoot paint balls into the crowd, where some other young people were gathering in the front yard. But the resident, Gregory Barns, believed “he and his family were under attack” — and squeezed off one round with a real gun, wounding the boy on Sunday night, according to police.

Williams has now been charged with child neglect with great bodily harm, saying he “acted recklessly by agreeing to conduct a drive by paint ball shooting,” according to an Opa-locka police report made public on Tuesday.

The boy suffered a further injury after losing his balance and getting run over by the van, according to the police report. In the chaos, Williams got the boy, put him in the van and drove home, where the child’s mother called 911, police said.

It was unclear Tuesday if Williams had an attorney. Information on his case has yet to be posted online. He was no longer listed as being in a Miami-Dade jail.

This story was originally published June 1, 2021 at 4:20 PM with the headline "Miami dad takes 10-year-old son to do ‘paint ball drive by.’ Boy shot by scared resident."