PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — Al's Exxon gas station reopened Monday after a horrific crash. Customers were busy filling up their tanks during the Fourth of July holiday. There were still reminders though of the scene a day earlier in the gas station parking lot.
The gas station's sign is still damaged with broken bricks sitting on the ground beneath it. There are also little piles of broken glass and spray paint on the ground from when investigators recreated the crash.
"I'm thinking you know it could have been a lot worse than what it was. There could have been a lot of lives that were taken from that wreck, but again God was there to protect all of us," Sonya Gray said.
Around 10 a.m. Sunday, a 30-year-old man apparently drove his truck off the road, according to the Paulding County Sheriff's Office, before going through the gas station's sign, crashing into several vehicles in the parking lot, and then coming to a rest on top of multiple vehicles next to the gas pumps.
Gray was driving to church and needed gas. She pulled up to the pump, put her car in park, and before she could take off her seatbelt – the crash happened.
"I heard a big bang and when I turned around he was up on the side of the back of my car," Gray said. "And then two seconds later, I heard a gunshot."
Gray shared with 11Alive a picture showing the truck on top of her car.
After Gray heard the gunshot, bystanders went to check on the truck's driver. According to the sheriff's office, he shot himself. The man later died at the hospital.
"It just breaks my heart to know he's done all of this and harmed all of these other people that were involved in it," Gray said.
The owner of Al's Exxon told 11Alive on Monday, that his security cameras captured the incident and he handed the video over to the sheriff's office.
The Paulding County Sheriff's Office is expected to release more information on the crash later this week.
During the incident, several people including Gray were injured, but none had life-threatening injuries.
Gray said she is waiting to hear how bad the damage is to her car and went to the emergency room to be checked out by doctors.
"I have strained muscles... I can't hardly turn my neck to the right and then I hurt my lower back, upper back. But then again I thank God because it is nothing more than strained muscles," she said.
The sheriff's office is asking for anyone with information on this incident to contact them on their mobile app or the tip line at (770) 443-3047.