Paintball thug who shot mum in drive-by rampage
A THUG blasted a mother with a paintball gun in front of her children as they walked the West Highland Way.
Anthony Rasmussen, 24, took pot-shots at the terrified victim and five other passers-by in a twohour rampage.
Miriam Bell, 47, was strolling with her husband and two of her three children when a passing Audi slowed down and she was fired at through the window. Of six shots, one struck her left hip.
Rasmussen, a father of two, also targeted 59-year-old Elizabeth Hayes in Drymen, Stirlingshire. She was shot twice in the ribs, on her elbow and the side of her face, leaving her fearing her eardrum had exploded.
His other victims included Daniel Malone, 21, Richard Wood, 63, Scott Wilkie, 16, and 55-year-old Mary Summers.
The shooting spree took place between Glasgow and Carbeth, near
‘Saw the barrel of a gun’
Strathblane, Stirlingshire, on June 23 last year.
Rasmussen, from Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, pleaded guilty yesterday at Glasgow Sheriff Court to seven charges, including shooting Mrs Hayes.
The court heard that Rasmussen was using a paintball gun to shoot people at random through the open window of an Audi between 1.55pm and 4.10pm.
Procurator fiscal Lucy Adams said Mrs Summers was in Clydebank with her brother when she heard three loud bangs. She added: ‘On the third bang, Mrs Summers felt a pain on the right side of her head in her hairline.
‘She put her hand up to her head where she felt a cold liquid she initially thought was blood, but then observed it to be yellow paint.’ Soon after, Mrs Hayes was walking with her husband when they saw a car coming towards them.
Miss Adams said: ‘As the vehicle passed, Mrs Hayes was struck three times on her left side, twice to the rib cage area and once to the left elbow.
‘The vehicle passed behind her and, as she looked over her shoulder towards it, she was struck to the right side of her face, next to her ear.
‘This final shot caused Mrs Hayes significant pain – she was immediately concerned that her eardrum had burst.’
Mrs Hayes described seeing ‘the barrel of a gun’ before she was shot for the final time. Her rib cage was bruised while the shots to her elbow and temple broke the skin. She needed stitches for a head wound.
Shortly after Mrs Bell was walking the same route with her husband and two children when the Audi stopped beside them. Rasmussen aimed what they thought was an air rifle at them through the passenger window.
Miss Adams said: ‘This male fired the gun approximately six times at them. One shot struck Mrs Bell on her left hip.’
Her husband noted the car’s registration plate and called police.
Mr Wood and Mr Wilkie, a builder, were shot at in Bearsden, near Glasgow. Mr Malone was targeted in the city’s Knightswood.
A driver in his vehicle at a car park in Carbeth said the Audi pulled up beside him and his car was hit by ‘a number of shots’.
Police used CCTV to help track Rasmussen and Mrs Bell identified him from a photo board.
Solicitor advocate Billy Lavelle, defending, said Rasmussen cares for his two children.
He added: ‘It’s a serious offence. However, I am asking for Mr Rasmussen’s bail to be continued notwithstanding his pleas of guilty.’
Sheriff Martin Jones deferred sentence for reports and continued bail but warned ‘in all likelihood he is facing custody’.