Chad L. King, 19, of Columbus, admitted to firing the shot while driving to school on Wednesday, according to Urbana police.
Police said an “Airsoft bb gun” was found and recovered in a dumpster on Urbana University’s campus.
Police said there are other unsolved incidents in which people were hurt and others may be responsible.
“While we are encouraged that we have solved the Maci Clay assault, we still have other victims who deserve some closure too,” Urbana Police Chief Matt Lingrell said in a prepared statement. “We do hope that with this arrest, everyone will self-reflect on the dangers and the cruelty involved in deciding to shoot a bb gun at innocent people.”
King posted bond and was released from the Tri-County Jail. He faces three misdemeanor charges — assault, obstructing official business and throwing or shooting misses — and is due in Champaign Municipal Court on Tuesday.
EARLIER
Urbana police continue to search for those involved in an incident that left a 4-year-old girl shot in the head by an air rifle.
Maci Clay and her older brother were watching their father take out the trash on Wednesday evening when she was struck by a pellet gun shot from a moving car.
One of the pellets hit her on the right side of the skull, and she was transported to Urbana Mercy Memorial Hospital for treatment. They told police they saw a silver car drive by.
“We were getting ready to settle in for the night, to go to bed,” said Sarah Clay, Maci’s mother. “And he was walking back, the kids kind of straggled behind a little bit. There were three pops and she screamed. … My husband went to give her aid.”
Clay said the pellet is lodged so far inside Maci’s skin it is not expected to come out.
“There was a lot of blood,” Clay said. “We weren’t exactly sure what happened at first. I knew something had hit her. It looked a lot worse than it was. It was really scary.”
When asked if it still hurt, Maci nodded her head.
“If you touch it,” she said. “It hurt.”
Officers also are investigating two other incidents that are similar to this one in which people were shot at with an air rifle from a moving car, Urbana Police Chief Matt Lingrell said. Police are asking for help with the investigation, he said.
“These crimes are very troubling to us and to our community, and it’s important that we identify those responsible quickly before another incident occurs,” the statement said.
In one of the incidents, the shooter reportedly yelled something about Pokemon, Lingrell said.
Anyone with information on the shootings should call Urbana Police at 937-652-4350.
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