'He pulled out his gun' | Man describes road rage shooting experience with his pregnant wife in truck
Georgia is above the national average for road rage shootings, according to The Trace, a nonprofit focused on gun violence.
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Road rage shootings are on the rise, with more than a 400% jump across the country in the last decade. Georgia is above the national average, according to The Trace, a nonprofit focused on gun violence.
Atlanta Police Lieutenant April White says she sees it, too.
“This is a problem that we are experiencing, seeing across the country. And it boils down to lack of conflict resolution. It's a simple incident. It can escalate into something more tragic,” said White, who leads APD’s aggravated assault unit.
There’s no universal police code for road rage, so generally, these kinds of cases get lumped in with aggravated assaults. That’s why the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive says it combs media reports and police data to track gun trends. It created the database used by The Trace to make its analysis of what’s happening in communities across the country.
Below, you'll find an interactive map of the number of road rage shootings per state from 2014- 2023, according to data from The Trace Via the Gun Violence Archive.
'He pulled out his gun'
Brandon Faison’s accident is part of that database. He says he was driving on Stone Mountain Highway in Gwinnett County last July when he accidentally cut off another car while changing lanes.
“And he said, 'Get the F*** off the road,'” recalled Faison.
Unfortunately, nasty words were just the start. Faison says the driver kept harassing him and his wife, so he pulled over, ready to settle it with a fistfight. But as the man got out of his car, he saw the other driver had something else in mind.
“Once he pulled out his gun, I got in the car and left. I ain’t… I ain’t Superman. I can’t take a bullet,” said Faison.
Faison says as he drove away, he heard the sound of gunfire. He and his wife thought they had lost the vehicle until it pulled up beside them a few moments later, scraping the side of his truck.
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Faison rammed into the truck to get the driver to back off. But instead, he sent his vehicle spinning into a guardrail. The other driver kept going. Police took a report but never investigated his case. When 11Alive Investigates tried to learn more about what happened, Gwinnett Police couldn’t even find the 911 calls from that day.
Faison finds that frustrating. The damage cost him a major construction job that he says could have changed his life. He had to find the money for a new truck and the incident sent his pregnant wife to the hospital.
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'Caught up in the moment'
11Alive Investigates did file an open records request of aggravated assault cases for a year, starting with June 2023, that mentioned road rage and guns.
We found 20 cases in Atlanta. Seven resulted in damage to the victim’s car and eight people were taken to the hospital. In Gwinnett, Faison was one of four incident reports we could find with people who say they came face to face with another driver’s gun.
Richard Taylor, the owner of Atlanta Anger Management, says he’s worked with many drivers who have been court-ordered to holster their tempers.
Taylor says daily stressors like tension at home or work, the economy, and even road construction can put drivers on edge. He also points out that the metro draws people from all over the country and even the world, creating what he calls “a dynamic driving experience.”
“They got caught up in the moment. You know that they were push, push, pushed. They felt disrespected,” said Taylor.
Taylor said people don’t talk much in class, but when they do, it’s clear that while the law considers them the offender, they are the ones that feel wronged.
“In court-ordered anger management, I'd say 90% of the people think they're the victim. So, they don't have any accountability for their actions,” Taylor explained.
In reading police incident reports, several drivers declared the victim, didn’t do much to diffuse the situation and may have ramped it up by honking, yelling, or making an obscene gesture.
That’s why Taylor’s advice can apply to both drivers involved in a tense situation on the road.
He says to practice mindfulness: catch it, check it and change it. Also, notice when you get upset, think about why, and then react responsibly.
He suggests that when you get in your car, you turn it on, set up your navigation if you’re using it, and take a deep breath. Think about what irritates you most on the road and then prepare for it to happen. Tell yourself ahead of time that somebody is going to drive too slow in the fast lane or cut too close in front of your car. Then, remind yourself that you don’t have to react. Instead, you can take a deep breath, back off, and, if necessary, calmly get away from the offending driver.
Explore the interactive graph for the number of U.S. road rage shootings from 2014-2023. The number of road rage shooting incidents has steadily increased from 83 in 2014 to 456 in 2023, according to data from The Trace Via the Gun Violence Archive.
Staying safe on the road
“If you become a victim of road rage, number one, get to a place of safety,” Lt. White said, adding that if the driver fires or even points a gun at you. “Take note of the license plate, the making model of the vehicle for any descriptors that would stand out on the vehicle.”
Lt. White says to call 911 and report it because it is a crime.
Lt. White added that many of these incidents are triggered by simple driving infractions, such as cutting a person off in traffic, driving too close, or not allowing someone to merge over. That’s why simply practicing safe driving techniques, like using your turn signal, can avoid confrontation.
“It’s not a competition. The goal for anybody is to get to the place, their location safely. So don’t engage in arguments with the next driver. It’s not a competitive sport,” White added.
Faison says his experience has taught him a valuable lesson. He wishes he had just slowed down and left the situation alone.
“At the end of the day, all that matters is me getting home safe to my family,” he said, now holding his baby girl safely in his arms. “You’ll never know what somebody’s going through in their mind.”
For more safety tips on the road, click here.
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