Driver involved in an incident of aggression behind the wheel regrets altercation with the other driver

CHARLOTTE, NC (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Police are investigating the circumstances of a shooting that appeared to stem from a road rage incident that occurred at a busy Plaza Midwood intersection Monday afternoon.

According to police, a single shot was fired near the intersection of Central and Pecan Avenue after two drivers got into an argument

Queen City News spoke with the driver, who wanted to be identified only as Thomas. Thomas was driving the gray SUV you see in the video posted to Instagram. He says it all started when he honked at a black car on the corner of Hawthorne and Central, a few blocks from where the shooting occurred.

“It started with a friendly honk hoping to help someone who wasn’t paying attention, and it evolved into someone picking a fight and trying to annoy me,” Thomas said. “Eventually they got what they wanted.”

Thomas says he was driving his 73-year-old father, who had just undergone surgery. He admits to being involved in an altercation with the driver of the black sedan.

“It ended with me throwing some water on his car, he came and threw water on me, broke my mirror, I retaliated by breaking his rear window and he ended up shooting me, which could have killed my father,” Thomas said.

Data shows that road rage shootings have increased by more than 450% in the last decade. Thomas says his father now has a bullet fragment in his face as a result of the shooting.

“The risks were disproportionate to the expected reward,” said Thomas. “I’m lucky to have my father, and I’m lucky to be alive.”

The police are still looking for the driver of the black sedan. Thomas plans to search digitally

“I hope they find him because I owe him an apology and he owes me one,” Thomas said.

A spokesperson for the Plaza Midwood Merchants Association sent Queen City News a statement saying, “It is always disheartening when behavioral violence occurs anywhere in the world, and of course even more so when it happens close to home. With regard to this incident in particular, we are strong advocates of pedestrian-friendly communities and urban planning. Then come cyclists, then public transit, and last but not least, cars. We have been advocating for over a decade to narrow Central through our district to two lanes so we can expand sidewalks, bike lanes, and on-street parking. This would increase pedestrian and cyclist safety, create much-needed parking, and, as icing on the cake, calm traffic on Central in general and encourage commuters wanting to go elsewhere to use Independence Blvd.

Broadly speaking, we also advocate for systemic change around environmental sustainability, economic inequality, and reparations. Our culture suffers from centuries of toxic exploitation of the working class and the poor, leaving many people hopeless, stressed, and angry. Sometimes this manifests itself in abhorrent individual behavior and outcomes. While they would not be a “solution to everything,” universal basic income, housing, healthcare, and education policies would go a long way toward flattening the curve of the current epidemics of chronic disease, mental illness, and behavioral violence we are grappling with in America. We carry that spirit into every meeting and event we show up to in the hope that we can help other leaders and organizations build a vibrant, diverse, sustainable, and safe city.”

Charlotte Mecklenburg police said they are aware of the incident and are searching for the driver. They warned people not to behave aggressively while driving and instead to try to get a description of the vehicle without following it and then call 911 to report the incident.