Columbus man fears hate crime after being shot in head with BB

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WYSX/WTTE) — A local man will have surgery this week to remove a BB pellet from his head, after he was shot with the object Saturday night outside a Merion Village gay bar.

Stephen Messerly says he was standing outside Boscoe's bar on South High Street, when he heard a loud pop and felt a sudden, searing pain behind his left temple. He immediately began bleeding heavily and was taken to the Grant Medical Center emergency room for treatment.

That's where doctors determined the wound was from a gunshot of some sort. Messerly says an MRI determined a BB was lodged against his skull.

"I'm definitely grateful to be alive; really lucky that it didn’t hit my brain," Messerly said. "It’s just crazy that it happened."

Messerly and his boyfriend Shane McClelland filed a report with Columbus Police, who responded automatically for the report of a gunshot victim.

As June is Pride Month, and with Boscoe's being clearly adorned in rainbow flags, Messerly suspects the BB shot was more than a random attack.

"It could have hit any other patron. There were at least 20-30 people outside," Messerly says. "It’s kind of crazy that they just aimed at a big group of people — but it also happened to be a gay bar."

Messerly said once the swelling from the BB shot's impact goes down, doctors will be able to safely remove the small metal round from his head.

If you know anything about the Saturday night attack, you can call Columbus Police at 614-645-4545.