DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Ronald Butler is used to driving through Atlanta in his big rig but says he's always on guard as he travels through the city.
That caution was warranted last Saturday. Butler said he was driving south on Interstate 285 when two vehicles came flying around either side of him, firing bullets at each other.
In a video recorded on his dashcam, a black sedan and a black SUV pass either side of the semi-truck Butler is driving.
He said he and his wife were startled just to see the cars going so fast and then terrified once people inside started shooting.
"I heard and felt the first few shots come out of the SUV," he described. "Immediately, the black car started to return fire. I have seen that video about 50 or 60 times because I was able to zoom in and look more carefully. You can see the rounds bouncing off the wall on the left side."
Butler said there were a number of cars on the road when the shooting happened, and everyone slowed way down, hoping to escape the fire.
"It's amazing that nobody else called in to report an injury or bullet holes," Butler added. "It's incredible that no one was killed. These guys were absolutely reckless and dangerous. It angers me and saddens me for Atlanta that something like that even happened."
His dash camera recorded a number of shots being fired in both directions before both cars exited 285 at Exit 36 for Northlake Parkway at a high rate of speed. Butler called 911 minutes later to report what happened, telling the operator, "that was the craziest thing I have ever seen in Georgia."
"I'm sure," the operator replied with a chuckle.
"They were flying through the traffic light when they got up to the end of that ramp," he added. "They didn't even stop, they just kept chasing each other."
Dekalb police told 11Alive officers responded to the scene but did not find anything once they arrived.
"Unfortunately, I think people are becoming more and more desensitized to violence because of the fact that everybody has a camera. People are less empathetic when they see things like this because they weren't there. But when you're when you're right there in it, it makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck," Butler concluded. "It makes you realize how crazy things can turn in just a second."