Gilbert (Phoenix), Arizona road rage shooting full story

[mrortega]

Sorry I highjacked a different thread to post this story so here is what happened.

A recently returned Iraqi vet unmaliciously cut in front of a guy (hereinafter refered to as Stupid Dead Dude (SDD)) on a street in Gilbert, AZ in the Phoenix valley. He wasn't racing the SDD as I posted earlier on the highjacked thread. I learned the inside story last night talking to a Gilbert LEO after my son's Jeep was totalled on the 202. LEO said the vet evidently felt bad and tried to give a friendly wave to SDD. (I've done that before and the other drivers have accepted my apology of a friendly, open handed wave.) The SDD aggressively tail-gated vet all around the area. Vet switched lanes several times and made several street changes and it bacame apparent that SDD was not going away. Finally vet had to stop at a red light where no right turn on red was allowed and had to sit there. That's when SDD jumped out of his truck and came up with gun in hand. Vet didn't waste any time and the LEO said he made 5 shots with all being solid hits. One was in the face. SDD expired on the way to or at the hospital. LEO said it was justified and no charges will be filed. He seemed like it was a forgone conclusion that only an idiot would charge someone gun-in-hand and not expect to have a problem. SDD picked the wrong person (ie a recently returned combat vet, probably still on orange alert, who evidently was an excellent shot with a hand gun. Hopefully this is the end of the story. You all are getting the straight version and not some media filtered (or as usual, wholly innacurate version.)

 

[norman428]

SDD Fail.

What was he thinking "You cut me off, now I'm going to kill you" It was likely just to scare the vet. I hate people with road rage, I had some guy follow me once after HE cut ME off and I laid on my horn. He was all pissy just because I honked.
Some people just need to get their head out of their A** and drive their car.

 

[littletommy]

Good for that vet! One less idiot in the world.

 

[BlueEagle]

I think I probably would've tried to get out of there, red light or no red light. But I don't fault him for what he did; a recently returned vet, coming from a combat area, is definitely going to be working on an entirely different mindset than most other citizens.

I remember hearing a story about my father, recently returned from the first Gulf War. They had just moved into a new house, and had no furniture yet. Middle of the night he flipped my mother off of the cot, which he had turned up on its side, crouched behind it, looking down the hallway because he "thought he saw something."

Kudos to this vet.

 

[mrortega]

I think I probably would've tried to get out of there, red light or no red light.

Yeah, my son just brought that up too. But I told him the vet maybe figured SDD might pop off some rounds from a distance and hit him with a lucky shot if he tried to move away. This way vet probably figured it had to end and it would happen on his terms. Very smart tactically.

 

[Denny347]

Flee or shoot...either way he did the right thing.

 

[sporter]

Sounds like a good shoot. I don't buy the just a friendly "wave" thing.

 

[Que]

I really feel sorry for that vet. The last thing he probably ever wanted was to have to kill a citizen here on U.S. soil over something so silly.

 

[bassplayrguy]

My thoughts and prayers are with this vet. Terrible that he had to do this but he was left with no choice.

 

[spitfire51]

Was the SDD really going to shoot someone over being cut off? Dang, I get my fair share of road rage but that's just insane. Idiots like that make it so much easier for responsible gun owners to be demonized everywhere. I feel horrible for the vet though, that's the last thing he should have to deal with after coming home.

 

[mrortega]

Was the SDD really going to shoot someone over being cut off? Dang, I get my fair share of road rage but that's just insane. Idiots like that make it so much easier for responsible gun owners to be demonized everywhere. I feel horrible for the vet though, that's the last thing he should have to deal with after coming home.

Hard to tell what his intentions were. But you don't approach a guy you've been tail-gating for awhile with a gun in your hand. Personally I would have stomped the gas and got out of there. But we can't guess the vet's take either. He came back from Iraq in one piece so he did something right.

 

[1032JBT]

Was the SDD really going to shoot someone over being cut off? Dang, I get my fair share of road rage but that's just insane. Idiots like that make it so much easier for responsible gun owners to be demonized everywhere. I feel horrible for the vet though, that's the last thing he should have to deal with after coming home.

I was LEO in Gilbert, AZ for just shy of 5 years before coming back home to Indiana........to answer your question, I'm pretty sure he probably was going to shoot over something that silly. I left there in 2002 and shots fired or display of guns due to road rage was pretty common out there.

 

[exelh]

We will never know if the vet's story is 100 percent true, he was smart and made sure there was only one side to the story.

 

[Cemetery-man]

If he wasn't OC'ing he'd probably still be alive.