BB Gun Shooters Turn Themselves In

Three Christian athletes go to jail. The young men, who are counselors for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes conference at a Tulsa church, were booked for felony crimes Tuesday. They're accused of

Tuesday, June 5th 2007, 10:28 am

By: News On 6

Three Christian athletes go to jail. The young men, who are counselors for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes conference at a Tulsa church, were booked for felony crimes Tuesday. They're accused of shooting a woman in the chest with a BB gun. These men are all in college. They all play sports. They've never been arrested before, but this one decision could affect the rest of their lives. News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright report the good news is they turned themselves in, and the woman is going to be okay.

Records show the men told police they were bored, so they decided to drive around and shoot people with a BB gun. They saw a woman walking with her sister. She says one of the men stood up through the sunroof and fired about five times. One shot hit her in the chest and penetrated her skin and lodged next to her ribcage.

Police officers stopped the men a few minutes later, but they denied being involved. Officers found a BB gun and a 4,000 count box of BBs but released the men because the victim was in the hospital and her sister couldn't positively identify them.

However, a short time later, the men decided they should go forward and confess. Twenty-one-year-old Terrance Barnett, 20-year-old Carlos Taylor and 19-year-old Stephen Ivey were booked on complaints of assault with a dangerous weapon.

These are felony charges and could mean serious jail time.

"I don't think they intended in hurting anyone badly, which they could've obviously. I just think they used poor judgment," said Tulsa Police Cpl. Gene Watkins.

CO2 powered BB guns have some power. We bought one that looks almost identical to the one police confiscated in this shooting. The BBs easily penetrated a cardboard box, filled with paper and came out the other side.

The other thing that makes these guns dangerous is they look so real. Faced with one, even in the daylight, it would be hard for an officer to know the difference.

"The victim didn't know it wasn't a real gun,â€ said Watkins. â€œThe officers, when they stopped the car, assumed it was a real gun. The gun was recovered under the seat, luckily no one reached for it or we could be talking about something different now today."

We talked briefly to the woman who was shot. She's at home recovering. She was taking pain medications and resting.

Ivey's mother told us, when she heard from her son, her first thought was to pray for the victim. She says they are devout Christians and do not condone this behavior. She says she wants all kids to learn a lesson from this that guns of any type are dangerous and one choice can have huge consequences.

She says her son is consumed with guilt over this.

Watch the video: Three Athletes Accused Of Shooting Woman With A BB Gun