Man shot with air gun by van passenger in the Black Country
A young man has said he could have been blinded after he was shot at with an air gun by a passenger in a van which pulled up alongside him as he walked home late at night.
The attack, on Throne Road, Rowley Regis, happened less than 24 hours before a man was injured in another suspected air gun attack in Oldbury.
Craig Johnson, aged 25, said he panicked as a man in a van called him over and asked him for the time before pulling out the weapon.
He managed to turn away as the gun was fired, escaping with a graze to the side of his face.
Mr Johnson was on his way home from work at around 11.40pm last Monday when he was targeted.
MORE: 'Air gun shooting' probe as Oldbury road shut by police
Police have launched an investigation but said it not thought to be linked to a suspected air gun attack on Rood End Road, Oldbury, at around 9pm on Tuesday.
The road was closed by police after a man was found with leg injuries.
Mr Johnson, from Rowley Regis, said he was terrified as the weapon was aimed just inches from his face.
He said: "I got off the bus from work and crossed the road as normal.
"I heard something slowing behind me and then a murmur of a voice.
"I got to the vehicle and saw the barrel of a gun. I turned away quickly and that's when he shot the gun.
"They then shot my arm and even as they pulled away there was another shot but it missed me. I was hit just above the eyebrow. If I hadn't turned away it could have blinded me."
At the time of the attack, he could not tell if his attacker was wielding a real gun.
Mr Johnson said: "I was just panicking. I have no knowledge of guns, all I saw was a gun in my face. It could have been anything.
"I don't want to walk down that part of the street.
"It sounds stupid because it was only an air gun but at the time it happened it could have been any kind of gun."
