A FORMER Lithuanian army sniper sparked chaos when he used a "potentially lethal" air rifle to shoot five innocent shoppers for "target practice".

Twisted Ruslanas Solovjovas opened fire on passers-by from a third floor window in Boston, Lincs, in horror scenes similar to Frederick Forsyth classic 'The Day of the Jackal.'

Armed police stormed the former pub and sealed off streets after the boozed up 39-year-old starting taking "pot shots" on a quiet Sunday morning.

One of his victims – a 28-year-old mum who had popped out to buy biscuits – suffered a hole in her leg, while a man was left with blood on his back from a pellet and a dent in his car.

When the former sniper was arrested, Solovjovas told cops he was "Jesus Christ" and warned them he had a gun.

He also told them: "I was a sniper in my own country."

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Solovjovas has been caged for just 14 months after admitting three charges of common assault and two charges of assault causing actual bodily harm at Lincoln Crown Court.

The court heard how the Lithuanian had been boozing on vodka on November 13 when he fired the "potentially lethal" high-powered weapon at innocent strangers.

The mum injured in the attack told the court in a victim impact statement how she feared her two children would be shot when she left them in the car to pop into the local shop.

The mother drove home after the shootings but was treated in hospital with painkillers for a hole in her right leg after she reported feeling "dizzy and sick."

Another 44-year-old woman described how she was suffering from recurring nightmares in which she is "always running away from the shooting."

Phil Howes, prosecuting, said: "People reported the noise of pellets whizzing past as they walked down the street."

Police found the weapon and leftover pellets inside the flat where Solovjovas' had been hiding.

They also discovered a cushion that had been moved beneath the window to make his firing position more comfortable.

Passing sentence Judge Michael Heath said his sentencing powers were limited by the fact that none of the physical injuries were serious.

You chose to exercise target practice on five innocent members of the public who were going about their lawful business

He added : "On 13 November you were very drunk and you behaved stupidly.

"You chose to exercise target practice on five innocent members of the public who were going about their lawful business.

"You caused some physical and psychological harm. Fortunately the physical injuries were not serious.

"But you could have caused the loss of eyes and heaven knows what would have happened if you had hit somebody in the temple."

Stuart Lody, mitigating, told the court Solovjovas had been drinking vodka heavily on the day of the incident after his girlfriend left him because of his alcohol dependency.

He added: "He told police that he was eight out of ten on a scale of being drunk. He decided to use the air rifle, which he had bought a few days before and which his girlfriend had told him to get rid of, to shoot at perfectly innocent people."

Boston was last year ranked worst for immigration, with one in six of the 65,000 population foreign-born.

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