Teen Shot Through Door While Campaigning for Democrat Raphael Warnock

Authorities have arrested a man who allegedly shot a teenager campaigning for Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) on Thursday evening.

According to authorities, a 15-year-old stopped by a home on Hartridge Street in Savannah, Georgia, campaigning for Warnock days ahead of the December 6 runoff race. While doing so, 42-year-old Jimmy Paiz allegedly shot the young campaigner through the door, striking his leg.

The teen was taken to Memorial Medical Center to treat the non-life threatening injuries, and authorities arrested Paiz, charging him with both aggravated assault and aggravated battery. However, the Savannah Police Department (SPD) said in the press release that there is “no indication the shooting was politically motivated” at this point in the investigation.

Per the release:

Around 5:35 p.m. officers responded to the 500 block of Hartridge Street in reference to a shooting and discovered a 15-year-old male victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg. He was transported to Memorial Medical Center for treatment of non-life threating injuries.

According to the preliminary investigation, the teen was campaigning for Raphael Warnock for the upcoming run-off election when the incident occurred. While at the front door of one of the residences on Hartridge Street, the suspect fired a shot through the closed door, striking the teen.

Officers quickly identified and located the suspect, Jimmy Paiz, at the residence. Paiz was booked into the Chatham County jail on charges of aggravated assault and aggravated battery.

This hardly is the first instance of violence waged against a campaigner, as assailants violently attacked a canvasser for Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in Florida ahead of the midterm election, asserting that Republicans were not allowed in their neighborhood.

As Breitbart News reported:

Indeed, the arrest affidavit reportedly mentions that the canvasser told authorities that the assailants said that he could not enter their neighborhood because he was a Republican. 

“The victim detailed that defendant Casanova stated to him that he could not pass through because he was a Republican and his dogs were ready to attack. The victim further stated to avoid an altercation, he proceeded walk onto the street and attempted to walk around the defendants,” it reads, adding that Casanova “stated to him that he was not allowed to walk around his neighborhood and if he continued to do so he would shoot him.”

According to the senator, the man “suffered internal bleeding, a broken jaw” and needed facial reconstructive surgery:

The crimes come as Americans continue to sound the alarm over a crime wave across the U.S., which has rocked several cities across the country. A 29-year-old man was fatally shot in Detroit over the weekend over elevator etiquette — allowing a group of women to go on an elevator first — triggering a confrontation with another man.

And in Brooklyn, an individual driving a Mercedes-Benz ran a stop sign, hitting a mother and her four children, and running away after the fact.