AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin police are investigating after a person was reportedly shot with a paintball gun during a live streamer’s scavenger hunt over the weekend.
Austin Police Department officers responded to a disturbance call Saturday around 8:40 p.m. The call reported that a person had been shot with a paintball gun earlier in the evening and wanted to file a report, according to police.
APD said their initial investigation showed that there were “multiple live streamers, armed with paintball guns, participating in a scavenger hunt along Lakeshore Boulevard” that day.
The victim said they had been hit by a paintball. APD said the case is currently being investigated as an assault with injury. No arrests have been made.
Famous online streamer Paul Denino, known as “Ice Poseidon,” hosted a days-long scavenger hunt in Austin over the weekend.
A video posted online over the weekend shows several people armed with paintball guns along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail near a paddleboard rental business, appearing to be recording or livestreaming from their phones.
The video showed the perspective of streamer “XenaTheWitch,” who fired a shot at a passerby, and another person told her, “That’s a real worker you almost shot at.” The video then showed another streamer’s perspective, where they speak to the person who was hit with the paintball.
The Hike and Bike Trail is managed by the city of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department. According to park use rules, paintball guns are not permitted in parklands:
- Weapons and Firearms.
(A) A person may not carry or possess a weapon or firearm while in a park, except:
(1) where the use is expressly allowed;
(2) as allowed by state and federal law; or
(3) when otherwise authorized in writing by the director.
(B) The use of a firearm, air gun, paintball gun, pellet or B.B. gun, bow and arrow, or projectile device capable of inflicting personal injury is prohibited unless conducted under permit or in a park facility where the director has authorized the use.
(C) A person may not display a firearm or other weapon in a park in a manner that the person should reasonably know will alarm or threaten another person.
Police said the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information may submit a tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477.