Charges filed in paintball shooting of Columbia Falls youth

A Columbia Falls High School student has been charged with felony criminal endangerment for allegedly shooting a paint ball at a junior high student in October. 

Bryce Denny, 15, allegedly shot a fellow teen from the open window of a pickup truck.

Columbia Falls Police Officer Sean Murphy responded to Talbott Road on Oct. 21 for a report of three kids in a pickup truck shooting paint balls at kids walking home from school. One of the children was hit in the side of the head and injured by the paint ball. The eighth-grade victim had a large welt on the right side of his head between his ear and eye, according to court documents. His ear was swollen and there was a small amount of green paint on his face.

The driver of the pickup truck told police that one of his passengers, Denny, said he was going to shoot at the kids before he allegedly pointed the gun out the passenger-side window. The other passenger in the truck, a 14-year-old Columbia Falls resident, also said that Denny shot the gun. 

The driver of the truck, another teen, was not charged.

The 14-year-old was charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly threatening the victim after the fact while walking home from school in November.

The teenager faces a misdemeanor charge because he allegedly and knowingly disturbed the peace by using threatening, profane or abusive language, according to court documents. The charge comes with more than six months in a correctional facility.