6 arrested in Detroit 'citywide paintball war'

The Detroit Police Department made six arrests Wednesday after what police describe as a "paintball war" carried out citywide and in some cases, filmed and published on social media.

Four of the arrests were made in the 5th precinct and two more were made in the 6th precinct, said Officer Dan Donakowski, a Detroit police spokesman.

"People were going around firing at each other," Donakowski said, adding there was social media chatter about the incident.

One Twitter user posted a 2:20 video, from the inside of a vehicle, that shows a passenger in the vehicle unloading a paintball gun on a black vehicle it was following. By the end, the vehicle was riddled with white and orange splats of paint.

Another Twitter user, apparently caught in the middle of a game he didn't know he was participating in, wrote: "I Was A Victim Of A Paintball War In Detroit Today."

Wrote another Twitter user: "I’m actually happy for this Detroit paintball war. Like as many killings we done had, it’s good to see y’all putting your energy elsewhere."

Donakowski said that Captain Darrell Patterson of the 7th precinct was out in plainclothes when paintball shots were fired at this vehicle. He made one of the four arrests in the 5th precincts.

One Twitter user didn't see the humor in the 'war,' writing: "It is unacceptable AND dangerous to ride around pulling guns—whether they’re real OR paintball— on folk. This is how folk end up dead — joking around. A child just pulled their paintball rifle on my Father. The very worst could have happened."