Police investigate possible hate crimes after paintball gun assault

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX - Two gay men, who say they were attacked separately in paintball assaults, are warning the LGBTQ community to be on alert.  

After seeing several complaints online, authorities are now trying to reach out to other victims. 

Joe Dodd says he was injured during a paintball attack, as he left his job in Ivanhoe Village at around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.

"I heard 'Pop! Pop! Pop!' out of the side of the sedan, and I got hit in the side. It stung pretty bad for a little bit," he said.

At first Joe thought it was just kids.

"I heard the next day, that there were people who are LGBT who were down by Lake Eola that had been hit as well."

Right around the same time, a man who did not want to be named in this article said he was playing Pokeman Go in Lake Eola Park, when he was hit by a paintball, leaving a bloody cut on his leg.

"It was a silver 4-door sedan and they screamed [expletive] out the window and we hear 'Boom! Boom! Boom!' There was blue paint coming down my leg with blood, so we realized it was paintballs at us."

He says around 15 people messaged him saying they, or their cars, were hit by the paintballs. The Orlando Police Department is now investigating the attacks.  Right now, they're labeling this as an assault and battery case and are trying to determine if this was a hate crime.

"I think it's homophobic people that are stupid -- three white guys, looked like late teenagers, early 20s. They were in a silver, 4-door car that looked like a Civic or Accord."

Joe hopes to find out why they were shot at.

"If it was a bunch of jerk kids doing it, and I was the only one hit, no big deal, but if it's multiple people getting attacked, then I feel like people should be aware of that."

Police plan to look at surveillance in the area to identify the suspects' car. Call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477) if you have any information.