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Brockton Boy Wounded In Paintball Attack

BROCKTON (CBS) -- Cody Hilts was outside playing with a couple of other kids on Ford Street in Brockton when a car pulled up and someone shot at them. The 12-year-old didn't know what hit him.

"I thought it was a real gun and I started freaking out and ran into the house to tell my mom," he said.

His mother thought she heard the gunshots.

"I heard some popping noises and he came in and his eye was like, I don't even know I didn't know if it was out of his socket," Cassandra Hilts said.

The paintball hit Cody directly in the eye.

"He was screaming. I heard this blood curdling scream," she added.

Cody Hilts
Cody Hilts was wounded by paintballs (WBZ-TV)

Cody's mother did what she could to clean his eye but soon realized she had get him to a hospital and fast.

"It was a vicious night last night at the emergency room," she said.

Right now police are looking for a dark, four-door sedan. Cody believes it was a black Acura.

Police say this is just one of three paintball incidents in Brockton.

"He heard me scream and then he went faster," Cody said.

Cody is suffering from a scratched cornea, detached retina, and severe swelling. He will likely go to the hospital every day until doctors are able to see if he needs surgery or not.

Cody's spirits are high and he has a message for the man who shot him. "Shame on him and he shouldn't be doing that. I guess he's just trying to find attention but karma will get him," he said.

Cody was supposed to leave Tuesday night to visit family in Cuba, but is no longer going. Right now, Cody and his family are just happy it wasn't a real gun because if it was, he may not be here.

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