Paintball Attack Leaves Man With Limited Sight

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Update: According to CPD, no one showed up for the meeting with Assistant Chief Glen Scruggs.

There is a go fund me set up for Haliton’s eye surgery.

Original story: A man who was the victim of a paintball shooting is requesting that his accused shooter’s charges be upgraded.

According to an affidavit, Xavier Haliton was in East Lake Courts with his cousin, when Dathan Mitchell approached them and began shooting Haliton at point blank range in the face with a paintball gun.

The affidavit says that Mitchell was screaming slurs at Haliton during the incident.

Mitchell was arrested and charged with Aggravated Domestic Assault.

Haliton says that he cannot see out of his eye as a result of the incident.

The I Am Foundation Executive Director, Sean Nix says, “So, we’re calling on the chief of police, David Roddy, to meet with us, to meet with our client. We want to meet with the investigating officers. We want to make sure that the proper documentation is turned over to the DA so that we can have a hate crime and an attempted murder charge on this man that did this to our client. You know, he deserves justice under the law.”

CPD sent us a statement that says the following:

“The Chattanooga Police Department has made every effort to curtail the use and misuse of paintball in the streets and neighborhoods of the city as an effort to prevent someone from being severely injured or worse. Unfortunately, the actions of Dathan Mitchell resulted in significant injuries to the victim, Xavier Haliton. CPD Officers arrested Mitchell four days after the incident was reported and charged him with Aggravated Domestic Assault. 

The attack on Mr. Haliton is terrible and discussing his concerns is important. However, response to the nightly demonstrations is also important to the safety of the hundreds of people engaging in downtown Chattanooga. In order to better support Xavier, lead officers in his chain of command, and engage our community each night downtown, Assistant Chief Glenn Scruggs changed the scheduled meeting with Xavier from earlier in the week to June 6. Chief Scruggs plans to listen to Xavier’s concerns, explain processes, and offer assistance from CPD’s Victim Services Unit during that meeting. Both the Chattanooga Police Department and Chief Scruggs’ remain committed to serving and supporting all victims of crime in our community.”‘

CPD also adds that any additional charges will be determined after consultation with the Hamilton County DA’s Office.