'No one deserves this'; Pontiac man shot with pellet gun, called homophobic slur

PONTIAC, Mich. (FOX 2) - A Pontiac man said he was shot at by a pellet gun and called a homophobic slur over the weekend.

Andrew Blake-Newton was riding in his motorized wheelchair to a nearby gas station shortly after midnight Saturday when he said he was shot at several times. He doesn't recall what the offender's faces look like, but he remembers one thing.

"They started laughing and as they peeled away, they called me a T***** *****," he said.

It's not the first time that Blake-Newton has heard it - and along with other derogatory names, was the most recent case of harassment he's experienced. This time, it came with being targeted by someone wielding a pellet gun.

"I just remember the pain and the fear, I knew I had to get off the sidewalk," he said.

When he got home, his husband called 911.

"I remember when the police pulled up because there were no lights on them, I was terrified that the people had come back to shoot me again," he said. "I started panicking, I started panicking really bad."

The sheriff's office is offering $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the crime.

"A hateful, despicable criminal act to shoot somebody for what ever reason in a torturous manner, obviously not intended to kill someone when it's a pellet gun," said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, "(but) it breaks down their feeling of safety and security and is a taunting hateful kind of thing to do."

Andrew Blake-Newton and his husband.

Blake-Newton said being trans means some people might laugh at his experience, saying he deserves it. "But you what no one deserves this, no one should have to go through this," he said early Monday evening. 

"And if we come together and we talk about what people are doing to us and we share our stories, maybe we’ll finally be heard."