Video shows road rage suspect allegedly fire 12 shots with toddler in car, hit driver and critically injure innocent bystander: 'He was trying to kill me'



An apparent road rage incident in Georgia turned dangerous when a driver allegedly unleashed a barrage of gunfire while he had an infant in his vehicle.

Michael Gabriel was driving to a doctor's appointment on Wednesday morning when another driver allegedly brake-checked him for possibly tailgating. Gabriel said the driver in front of him slammed on his brakes so hard that he was forced to swerve into the outside lane to avoid a collision.

Gabriel then pulled up next to the Ford Mustang on Ga. 365.

"He didn’t like getting flipped off," Gabriel told The Times of Gainesville, Georgia.

The driver brake-checked Gabriel again. Then the Mustang driver got behind Gabriel and allegedly fired off three gunshots.

"He’s a little bit behind me, kind of diagonally," Gabriel explained. "So I look back and that’s when I saw his window coming down, the gun coming out. Pow! Pow! Pow!"

A bullet pierced his back window, traveled through his car seat, and tore into his right shoulder.

Gabriel told WSB-TV, "There wasn’t a warning shot. He was trying to kill me."

Gabriel pulled out his smartphone to take a video and capture the license plate number on the Mustang. However, when he got near the Mustang, he dropped his phone as nine more gunshots rang out. The alleged gunman got out of his car and reportedly fired on Gabriel's SUV.

During the second shooting, a bullet struck Gabriel in the lower back.

“Had that back shot had any more power, or if the trajectory had been any different, if that seat hadn’t — if it wasn’t built exactly like it was, that could have took out a lot of my organs,” Gabriel said. “It could have been game over.”

Gabriel called the police. He was rushed to the hospital and released later that day.

"It took a serious hand to God to keep me alive and here today,” Gabriel said.

However, a 65-year-old innocent bystander was not so lucky. Paula Kay Blackwell was “caught in the crossfire,” according to Lt. Kevin Holbrook of the Gainesville Police Department. Blackwell was shot in the kidney and was in critical condition as of Thursday, police said.

Video shows Gabriel's Chevrolet Tahoe riddled with bullet holes.

Gainesville police arrested 26-year-old Steven Dallas Cooper. He was charged with aggravated battery, criminal attempt to commit murder, criminal damage to property, reckless conduct, and aggravated assault. Cooper is being held without bond in Hall County Jail.

Cooper had a 2-year-old child in the backseat of the car during the alleged shooting, according to police.

Gabriel's advice for future road rage situations, "It’s so not worth this. If someone makes you mad, wave at them and say a prayer for them.”

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Road rage shooting suspect had toddler in backseat www.youtube.com

Woman rams a mom at a McDonald's drive-thru in alarming road rage incident caught on video



Cellphone video caught a road rage incident in which a woman assaults a mother at a McDonald's drive-thru in front of her two young children.

The alarming incident unfolded at the fast food restaurant in Richmond, California, on Feb. 5.

The victim, who only wants to be identified by her first name, Amaro, said that a woman accused her of cutting her off at the drive-thru and went into an expletive-filled rage.

Amaro says her two boys, aged 3 and 5 years, were in a van with her when the woman rammed into their vehicle. Amaro caught the assault on her cellphone video.

"They were so scared," said Amaro to KPIX-TV. "I was terrified, for my children, for myself."

The video cut out after vehicle collision, but Amaro said the assault did not.

She said she got out of her van and stood in front of the woman's car to prevent her from driving away. Unfortunately, that did not stop her, according to Richmond Police.

"The suspect decides to accelerate, strikes our victim with the front bumper," said Sgt. Aaron Pomeroy.

"I was able to hold on to the hood of her car and she drove off with me out of the McDonald's," Amaro continued.

"Just before she got to 23rd Street the suspect hard-braked the vehicle which caused the victim to fall off the hood," Sgt. Pomeroy explained.

Amaro said that the woman jumped out of her car and punched her about six times in the face before driving away.

Police said they identified who the car belongs to but that the owner would not cooperate with the investigation.

They are searching for the woman who appeared to be wearing medical scrubs at the time of the alleged assault. They said there was an older man in the passenger seat in the car.

"We are investigating this as an assault with a deadly weapon because her vehicle was used specifically as a weapon to ram the other vehicle," Pomeroy concluded.

Amaro said that her children are traumatized by the incident, and that they have nightmares about it.

Here's a local news video about the road rage incident:

Road Rage Attack On Mother at Richmond McDonald's Drive-Thru Caught On Camerawww.youtube.com

Shocking dashcam video shows driver opening fire on passing vehicle in Miami road rage incident



Shocking footage from a vehicle's dash camera shows a driver pulling a handgun from his center console before firing nearly a dozen shots at a passing vehicle while traveling on a major highway.

The apparent road rage incident took place last summer in Miami-Dade County, Florida, WTVJ-TV reported on Friday. But video of the incident has only just surfaced in media reports after being released to police by the defendant as part of the investigation.

The video was reportedly first obtained by Miami-based radio host Andy Slater.

According to police reports filed at the time of the incident, 30-year-old Eric Popper of Deerfield Beach was traveling southbound on I-95 early in the morning on June 21, 2021, when he changed lanes and abruptly cut off another driver.

Then, after the other driver honked his horn, Popper allegedly shouted, "Oh, f*** off" and aggressively applied his brakes.

"The victim tailgated the defendant for a short time and made hand gestures out of his driver’s window. In the video, the defendant is seen retrieving a handgun from his center console and pointing it towards his driver’s door," the police report read, according to WFOR-TV.

"When the defendant begins to pass the victim on the right, the defendant points the handgun towards his right-front passenger door. As the victim passes the defendant, he throws and strikes the victim’s vehicle with an unknown object," the report added.

Popper is then seen firing eleven shots at the passing vehicle, striking it multiple times.

Dashcam video from inside driver's car shows him shooting during road rage incident www.youtube.com

Popper has claimed that he was acting in self-defense. In another dashcam video, he can be heard saying, "I was just shot at. My car was hit," adding, "I returned fire back at the individual."

But the victim reportedly claimed that he did not have a gun but rather threw a water bottle at Popper's vehicle. Amazingly, neither of the drivers was injured in the exchange. Both called police to report the incident after it occurred.

Popper voluntarily turned himself in to the Florida Highway Patrol in July but has since bonded out of custody, WLPG-TV reported. He is reportedly facing several felony charges, including aggressive assault with a firearm and shooting/throwing a deadly missile.

At the time of the incident, Popper worked as a civilian fire inspector with Miami Beach. He has since resigned from his position.

Popper's lawyer, Robert Gershman, confirmed the video to WTVJ and told the outlet he believes the footage exonerates his client.

"You hear a bang on Mr. Popper's car, akin to a gunshot, which precipitated the whole incident, so in this matter, the audio and video evidence we believe exonerates him," Gershman said.