I was shot today!

I live in TX.

I run my own landscape design company here in Texas. I am building two giant ponds for this guy here in town, I was at his house working today. While I was in the front yard getting some measurements I heard a something whizz through the air and then heard a thud. I felt a sharp pain in my left forearm and looked down and blood was shooting out of my forearm with every heart beat. Just then I heard the front door slam shut, so I knew that someone had shot me with a BB gun. I knew that this family has a son in his late teens. I went and rang the doorbell and no one answered the door. So I walked around back to look around, about 5 minutes went by and 4 guys all 17-18 yrs old came around and were apologizing for shooting me. They basically admitted that they did it on purpose, kind of like they were trying to see how much damage the air pistol would do. What kind of action should I take or what should I do??

[JETX]

Originally Posted by bburch

What kind of action should I take or what should I do??

Gee, I think that calling the police might be a good start, don't you???

Gee...While I do appreciate your sarcasm I am meeting the police at that house at 6:30. Thank you and if that is the only advice you can give me please hold your toungue slappy!

[stephenk]

so you get plunked with a BB and you immediately post to this website asking for advice? Advice to do what? Put a bandaid on the boo-boo and go back to work.

it's a good thing you weren't shot in the head. The sound of the BB rattling around in your empty skull would sound like a maraca.

Beat the living crap out of them.

[BelizeBreeze]

Originally Posted by stephenk

it's a good thing you weren't shot in the head. The sound of the BB rattling around in your empty skull would sound like a maraca.

La Cucaracha
Coro:
La cucaracha, la cucaracha,
Ya no puede caminar;
Porque no tiene, porque le falta
Marijuana que fumar.

Ya murio la cucaracha,
Ya la llevan a enterrar,
Entre cuatro zopilotes
Y un raton de sacristan.

Con las barbas de Carranza,
Voy a hacer una toquilla,
Pa' ponersela al sombrero
De su padre Pancho Villa.

Un panadero fue a misa,
No encontrando que rezar,
Le pidio a la Virgen pura,
Marijuana pa' fumar.

Una cosa me da risa:
Pancho Villa sin camisa;
Ya se van los carrancistas
Porque vienen los villistas.

Para sarapes, Saltillo;
Chihuahua para soldados;
Para mujeres, Jalisco;
Para amar, toditos lados.

Yip, I have noticed that this site has more sarcasm than help. Anyhow, the police report has been filed, I have had X-RAY taken and the BB is still in my arm, unfortunately it is too deep to retrieve unless at some point down the road it causes some kind of wierd infection or something. So thanks to some stupid kid I have to live with a BB in my arm, I have been placed on some antibiotics and tomorrow I have to go in and get a tetnas shot. It has all been so much fun, and at least I'm not busy so I can take time off work to deal with this CRAP! I don't know that there is anything that I can do at this point outside of just accepting the fact that I was the victim of someone's stupidity and move on. Oh yeah and I guess I was lucky he didn't shoot me in the head, because I doubt it would rattle around very much.

You need to hire an Attorney. This traumatic, morbid, criminal, near death experience will affect you for the rest of yourt life. Nerve damage, loss of full use of arm, nightmares, victim phobia, loss of sexual enjoyment, loss wages, emotional stress, blah, blah, blah... Sounds like you have a great case, and remember, home owners insurance pays off big. Just a dog bite is worth good money. but being shot at...chaching

I would definitely contact an attorney. You definitely have a case.

I have talked with a couple of different attorneys and no one has really said that I had a right to any money outside the normal medical damages. I wish that I could get something for my time and trouble, I have lost a whole week of work over this thing, and my arm is still pretty soar, and I am sure that it will be until my muscles get used to having a piece of metal stuck in there. But, I just can't afford to lose any more time with my jobs chasing after this deal. And I am not familiar with Home-owners insurance, whether or not the guilty party's home-owners ins. will cover this thing since the shooter was on someone else's property when he shot me. This is a huge mess that I wish that I had never been party to.

[stephenk]

you would make the claim against the property owner's carrier and also against the shooter's carrier. what happened with the police?

[JETX]

Originally Posted by stephenk

you would make the claim against the property owner's carrier and also against the shooter's carrier.

Actually, it would be very unusual for the OP to even know who those carriers are (unlike an auto accident report where the insurance is noted) and it doesn't normally come up until a lawsuit is filed against the homeowner AND the shooter.

[badapple40]

There are a variety of claims you can make. Assault and battery comes to mind. You are entitled to medical damages, pain and suffering, and if the loss of one week of work can be shown to have been proximately caused by the bullet -- e.g. you couldn't work because you couldn't move your arm, then you are entitled to that too. Because it was done intentionally, with malice, e.g. intending to hurt you, you should also be entitled to punitive damages.

You may also be entitled to future medical damages, pain and suffering, and lost wages on account of having to ultimately undergo a surgery to repair and remove the bb. You'll need medical testimony from a competent doctor to establish the necessity of the future surgery.

True story: I was about 13 years old, was jerking around with a bb gun on the back porch of my parents house trying to shoot a hawk with it, set the gun down, and one of my brothers picked it up, pumped it a few times, thinking it wasn't loaded, and pulled the chamber back just enough to trigger it, but not enough to load a bb. He pointed it at my youngest brother, and shot him, thinking it wasn't loaded. Unfortunately, it was loaded, and the bb entered through his body, ending up in his kidney. Of course, he went to the hospital, was laid up for well over two weeks, and the doctor's could not remove the bb, because to do so would risk the loss of the kidney. Today, 25 years later, that bb is still in the youngest's kindey -- without any further complications.

My guess is, if my brother's kidney is any indication, future surgery is probably not necessary for your shoulder.

I do have a lawyer looking into the situation for me, he said in a situation like this I would probably be entitled to something like 3 to 5 times the punitive damages. My main problem is that I can not file a suit against the property owners homeowners insurance because I have a whole lot of very lucrative work coming up with and through him. Overall a very comlicated issue.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by bburch

I do have a lawyer looking into the situation for me, he said in a situation like this I would probably be entitled to something like 3 to 5 times the punitive damages. My main problem is that I can not file a suit against the property owners homeowners insurance because I have a whole lot of very lucrative work coming up with and through him. Overall a very comlicated issue.

**A: sounds very "comlicated" alright in a complicated world we live in.