Man in car with his two young children fires gun at another driver in road rage incident

29-year-old Kenneth Simmons, of Normalville, PA, was driving on Route 711 with his two children, ages 4 and 2. According to police reports, a dispute started when Simmons encounter a car driven by 18-year-old Tyler Dipaola. Simmons thought Dipaola almost hit his car so he started chasing him. This lead to the cars passing and weaving around one another until the two became cornered on Backcreek Rd.
Along the way Simmons allegedly made an inappropriate gesture to Diapola and pulled out his rifle and showed it to Diapola twice. He then fired the gun. Simmons told police he fired the gun at the ground.
Simmons has been charged with reckless endangerment, simple assault, and firearms violations.

Victim describes road rage incident where gun was pointed at him

A Portage, Indiana man was driving east on I-80 when a pick-up truck in the lane next to him tried to change lanes. The driver honked his horn, to warn the truck he was about to hit his car. The victim told police he wasn't able to change lanes because of heavy traffic. He said the pick-up caught up with him again and while they were driving side by side the man in the truck extended his middle finger. The victim returned the gesture and sped away.
He then saw the pick-up "zipping in and out of traffic" in order to catch up with him. When the truck pulled back along side him, the victim said he saw the man in the truck moving his lips and making angry faces while pointing a gun directly at him. The truck pulled away and the victim called the police and was ale to give a description of the truck to police.
Police located the car and asked the driver, 50-year-old John Hochstedler of Niles, Michigan, if he had a gun in the car. He said he did and directed police to a semi-automatic handgun in the center rear passenger compartment of the truck. According to police the gun was loaded, but there was no round in the chamber.
Hochstedler was arrested and charged with Intimidation with a Deadly Weapon, a Class C Felony. Hochstedler denied pointing the gun at the other driver.

Man loses eye in road rage shooting

Josh Deraitus of Auburn, Washington was on his way to pick up his 4-year-old son. He pulled out of a Walgreen's parking lot into traffic when a black car came up quickly behind him and started tailgating him. Josh recalls that he thought, "I'm not going to go 50 or 60 just because this guy is doing 60, so I just maintained 40."
The black car tried to pass Josh, on both the right-hand and left-hand sides, but both times traffic prevented the car from passing. When Josh stopped at a red light, the black car pulled up next to him.
"I looked because I wanted to see the guy who was tailgating me," said Josh. "As I looked, he pulled up slow. The first glimpse I got of him, he already had the gun out. He didn't say anything or try to scare me with the pistol or flash the gun. He just fired one shot and basically hit me right between the eyes." Josh ultimately lost his left eye. Since the shooting he has undergone several surgeries to repair his eye socket and fit him with a prosthetic eye.
32-year-old Justin McCleod has pled not guilty to first-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm. McLeod was already in custody on other charges and is being held on $500,000 bail.
"I don't have any anger," said Josh. "My faith has filed the void that possibly could have been consumed with anger."

Man admits to brandishing handgun with malice intent in road rage incident

Two cars were driving on M-40 near Gobles, Michigan. 34-year-old Robert Fisher of Paw Paw was in one car and a couple was in the other. Fisher pulled out in front of the couple, almost causing an accident. The situation escalated and Fisher pulled out a .357 snubnosed revolver and "aggressively" showed it to the couple. The couple called 911 and a short time later the police stopped Fisher. They found a loaded handgun in the car and arrested him on charges of felony firearm violation, carrying a concealed weapon, and possession of an unregistered handgun. (Michigan is one of a handful of states that require handguns be registered. Most states don't have this requirement.)
No one was injured, but the couple was pretty shaken up. Fished admitted to police that the handgun wasn't registered. He told police he was upset because the other car was tailgating him and that he "brandished the handgun with malice intent." He is being held on $10,000 bond.

Man upset with car tailgating him fires shot

74-year-old John Hart of Columbus, Georgia admitted that he fired his gun at another car while driving on the interstate spur. According to police, Hart was driving slowly in the far left lane when a black Dodge Ram pulled up close behind him. Hart told police that after he moved into the other lane the passenger in the Dodge made an obscene gesture at him as the vehicle passed so he fired a shot.
Neither the 49-year-old male driver or the 56-year-old female passenger were hurt. Hart was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of discharging a firearm within city limits. Georgia law does not require any sort of permit or safety training in order to be able to carry a loaded gun in a private passenger motor vehicle.

Man, enraged when car in front of him stops for yellow light, pulls gun

53-year-old Richard Rankin, of Pearland, Texas was driving closely behind another car Thursday afternoon. The car in front of him came to the intersection of Ray and Austin Streets and stopped for a yellow light. When the light turned green Rankin pulled up alongside the other car and allegedly pulled out a gun, pointed it at the driver, and sped away. Pearlman was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and exhibiting a deadly weapon.

Man accused of pointing gun across son's face at another driver in road rage incident

36-year-old Daniel Luhrs, of Ellwood City, PA got into an altercation with Megan Marrow as the two were driving on Route 376 in Center Township, PA. It's unclear what caused the altercation but after both vehicles exited the highway, while Luhrs was traveling in the left lane and Marrow in the right Luhrs allegedly pulled out a handgun, pointed it across the nose of his 14-year-old son who was sitting in the front seat, and aimed it at Marrow. Luhrs also had his 10-year-old son in the back seat and Marrow had her 7-month-old daughter in the backseat of her car.
Marrow called police and they arrested Luhrs a short time later in a Walmart parking lot. He admitted to pulling the gun but said he had only held it up in the air and didn't point it at Marrow. He also noted that he had a concealed weapons permit to carry the gun.
Luhrs was arrested and charged with three counts of reckless endangerment.

Police release sketch of man wanted in road rage shooting

Washington State Police have released a sketch of a man who is wanted in connection with a road rage shooting that took place early Monday.
According to police, two vehicles were driving south on Rt. 167 in Sumner when a man in a Mazda came up behind the victim's car, a Mitsubishi, and passed on the shoulder, narrowly avoiding a crash. As the Mitsubishi went to exit the road the driver of the Mazda rolled down the passenger window and fired a single shot at the other car.
The bullet entered the rear passenger door, struck an 18-year-old male in the arm and continued on through the passenger seat and struck a 17-year-old female in the back. Both victims recovered from their injuries.
Police are asking for the public's help to find the shooter. He is described as a white man with dark hair, driving a 2009 to 2011 Mazda 6.

Man found guilty in road rage shooting

33-year-old Christopher Garrett of Norristown, Pennsylvania has been found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault and one count each of recklessly endangering another person and simple assault for shooting Jose Iglesias during a road rage incident last August.
The incident started when Iglesias cut Garrett off on a stretch of road where two lanes narrow to one. Garrett then pulled up next to Iglesias at a red light, got out of his car and started to shout at Iglesias. Both men then were out of their cars and started fighting.
Garrett is 6 feet 9 inches tall, Iglesias is only 5 feet 8 inches. Yet Garrett testified that Iglesias was beating him in the fist fight.
At some point during the altercation a 9mm handgun fell out of the back brace that Garrett was wearing. At the time he had a valid permit to carry the concealed, loaded weapon.
According to court testimony, Garrett picked up the gun, Iglesias raised his arms and said, "What are you going to do shoot me?" At which point Garrett pulled the gun's slide, chambered a round, and pointed the gun at Iglesias. He then shot Iglesias.
Garrett argued he shot in self-defense but the prosecution contended that Garret provoked the confrontation from start to finish and deadly force was not warranted. The jury deliverated less than four hours before finding Garrett guilty.
Mr. Iglesias was not available to testify because during the surgery to repair the damage done when the bullet perforated his liver and lung, Iglesias went into cardiac arrest, was deprived of oxygen and is now in a persistent vegetative state.
Iglesias' wife testified at trial that he is bedbound and entirely dependent on her for basic care and that he cannot move or talk.

Road rage leads to gun showdown between two men

A 60-year-old man on a motorcycle in Xenia, Ohio didn't like the way an 18-year-old was driving a Pontiac Firebird. He felt the teen was driving erratically and so he decided to follow him home to "teach him a lesson." The teen noticed he was being followed and called home and told his parents to "have a gun waiting." When the two pulled up at the teen's house someone came out with a gun and pointed it at the man on the motorcycle. So the man on the motorcycle pulled out a gun and pointed back.
Both sides called 911 and when the police arrived the two men pointing the guns couldn't figure out which one of them was being yelled at by the officers. According to police, "With two guns and two people on the phone with dispatchers, things got a little confusing. This is a situation where things escalated very quickly, and we could have had a much worse result."
The incident remains under investigation but the teen has been arrested and charged with aggravated menacing.

Modesto man arrested in road rage shooting

20-year-old Victor Ramirez of Modesto, California was driving on Claus Road when he was rear-ended by a car. Both drivers pulled to the side of the road and Ramirez became confrontational, pushing and threatening the other man, then he pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the other driver. The other driver got back in his car and drove away. Ramirez followed. The driver lost Ramirez and had parked the car and was walking across the street with his passenger when Ramirez rounded the corner. Ramerez fired several shots at the pair. One of the shots hit the driver. Ramirez drove off but a few days later the victim spotted Ramerez' truck and called police. Ramirez was arrested and charged with attempted murder.
"I thought I was going to die," the victim told reporters. "I've never been shot at before. I don't even have a gun. I've never though to shoot anyone else. I guess people think differently."

Woman claims man pointed gun at her and her young son

A Jackson, Mississippi woman claims a man pointed a gun at her and her 9-year-old son during a road rage incident. She said the man was honking his horn at her then as he passed her he rolled down the window and pointed a gun at her. She followed him to a pawn shop and called police, who investigated and let the man go.
The man told reporters that it was his finger, not a gun, that he pointed at the woman after she cut him off in traffic. He admitted that he did indeed have a loaded gun in the car at the time, a .38 special. He added that he has a concealed weapons permit for the gun and keeps it for protection.
Police said that at most it was a misdemeanor crime. Under Mississippi law pointing a loaded gun at someone is not a crime unless a police officer witnesses it. "That is called a 'pointing and aiming' and it is classified as a misdemeanor crime," said the assistant police chief.
The woman has signed an affidavit and filed charges and a judge will now have to sort things out.

Utah woman charged with waving gun, ramming car

A 38-year-old Salt Lake City, Utah woman is accused of threatening a motorist and his passenger with a gun and ramming his car out of road rage. The victims said a car pulled up next to them at an intersection, the driver rolled down the window, complained that they had cut her off then waved a gun and yelled, "I should shoot you right now."
The victims drove away and the woman followed and rammed their car. The woman was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.

Dad Waves Gun at Another Car While Driving Kids to School

John Dustin Rains of Jonesboro, Arkansas appeared in court this week accused of pulling a gun in a road rage incident while driving his two children to school. The incident happened in January. Jonesboro police received a call from a driver saying he had just been threatened by another driver waving a gun at him. He reported that the car had pulled into the driveway of a local elementary school. Police located Rains inside the school and found a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun in his pocket.
Rains has been charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare or a minor, and possession of a firearm on school property. He posted bail and is due back in court in October.