Fernandina Beach mother is recovering after being shot with a BB gun

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — Ashley Blanton was driving home Sunday with her fiance and young son.

Her windows were rolled down when all of a sudden, she heard a shot fired and felt something hit her face.

“Blood was everywhere, and I couldn’t even get words out to to tell him, ‘Hey, somebody had to have just shot me with something,’” Blanton said.

Blanton said the first thing she thought of was her 5-year-old son Clayton in the back seat.

“If he had his window down it could have hit him and who knows, it could have went through his eye,” she said.

Police tracked down 20-year-old Camden Smith and arrested him at his apartment.

Neighbors told police he was playing with his BB gun on 14th Street South, shooting BBs at a nearby speed limit signs when he may have accidentally hit a car instead.

Smith told police he was cleaning out the barrel of the BB gun and didn’t mean to hit anyone.

He has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and shooting into an occupied vehicle.

Blanton doesn’t think people realize how dangerous a BB gun can really be.

"It’s been known to kill people. People have done that before," she said.

Blanton is recovering at home. Her face is swollen and black and blue, but she’s just glad that no one else got seriously hurt.

Action News Jax asked Fernandina Beach police about laws involving BB guns.

They said it’s not illegal to shoot BBs within city limits, but it is illegal to shoot them at a person.

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