Road Rager

Bumped for an update below.

Perhaps, but something tells me that there's more to this story than meets the eye.

Why would the dump truck hit the car twice? It's pretty obvious why he took off afterwords; and if the guy doing the shooting was just pissed off, than that's not very helpful and he will probably spend lots of time behind bars cooling off.

My first guess is that the shooter thought the guy in the dump truck was trying to kill him and his daughter. It takes a very rare sort of person to get angry enough to start shooting for no reason; and if that's the case, how has this guy made it so far in life to have kids and be driving a Jaguar and not have a history of violence?

I hope I can get more info on this one later.

Update: I knew there was more to this story. First of all, the dump truck driver is now being charged with 2nd degree attempted murder. Originally he was only charged with reckless driving. The shooter is also being charged with attempted murder; and from the earlier post he is also being charged with child endangerment, although that post has not been updated. I can't think of why he would be charged for child endangerment, but not the truck driver.

There's some things to point out. The quotes from the VSP in the article make it seem like there was a demolition derby type incident between both drivers, when I can't possible see that as being the case. A guy in a nice sedan with his two year old in the back just doesn't play crash and smash with a ten ton vehicle. It just doesn't work that way. I don't even ride next to a truck with my kids in the car, absent the anger and frustration. My kids lives are too valuable to risk getting in a wreck when a tire blows out on a truck and comes through the window.

What I'm gathering is that there may have been some non-violent provoking, like horn honking and middle fingers, but that the truck driver took it to another level when he struck the Jaguar twice, driving it against a jersey wall. If that's the case, then the driver of the Jag would have reasonable cause to think the truck driver was trying to kill him. However, firing a handgun at the back of a fleeing dump truck is a big no no, especially considering this is I95 during rush hour.

It also appears that the truck driver was somehow following the Jag after the shooting; the details seem sketchy, but the Jag driver's dad said his son called him scared during this "chase", or whatever it was. Why the truck driver would give chase after being shot at is a big question. If it was the other way around, and the Jag driver was chasing the dump truck, then my question again is why? If the attack is over, why would you drive down the shoulder after a vehicle ten times the size of yours?

I may have to eat crow if it turns out otherwise, but my guess at the story is that the dump truck driver was the antagonist who got violent by striking the Jaguar. The driver of the Jaguar was under the belief that he was being attacked with deadly force, but got carried away with his pistol and emptied the thing in anger and/or frustration, after which, the dump truck driver tried to follow the Jag for another crack at his bumper.

What's your thought?

Update: This comment on the article I just posted is from alleged eye witness Joshua Tree:

"Good 4U Sante Clawse! The rest of you that ARE judging from the media...grow your own brain and not what the media wants you to see. I was the closest bystander to this incident. I watched the ENTIRE thing play out. The only thing that the Jaguar driver could have done better, was to shoot the dump truck driver while he was being rammed. I saw the truck smash the car up against the rail on the right. Then, the guy tried to get away in his busted car, but the truck driver turned and rammed him up against the wall. As if that wasn't bad enough, he backed up and hit him again. He was trying to kill this guy. This guy was slow on the draw, but had every right to be concerned the guy would come back and hurt him/his daughter again. The truck driver, without question, was the aggressor and tried to run him down...to the point of following him across 3 lanes! Don't judge until you have been..or at least witnessed."

There is also a newer comment from someone who allegedly knows the dump truck driver, who says that the guy in the Jag pointed his gun at him, which caused him to start smashing into the back of the Jag in what can only be implied as self defense. I find that pretty preposterous, and don't think that would stand up in court.