“It comes down to what does that person believe and was that belief reasonable.”

Cashatt would not have legally had the right to fire at his assailants after he looked at his arm and realized it was a paintball, Orwick added.

“I’ve seen some fake guns that look real, and some that don’t look real at all,” she added.

There is some difference in the law when it comes to a police officer in situations involving fake guns.

“An officer doesn’t have to wait to determine whether it’s real or not, because a lot of times when they wait to make that determination it’s too late,” Orwick said. “They also get the benefit of self-defense as well.

“The moral of this story is: Don’t point paintball guns at people. It’s so scary and so senseless all around. Scary for the victim, and it could result in a loss of life.”

Cashatt said he has never drawn his weapon on the job. He also said until he looked at his arm, he thought the gun was real.

Now he wonders: What if he had killed the paintball shooter? He’d have to live with the idea of taking a life, knowing that the person killed was just doing something stupid. And a family would have to bury a son.