Northern Virginia

Motorcyclist wrestles gun away from pickup truck driver in road rage incident

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Road rage led to a shooting at an intersection in Prince William County, Virginia, Sunday.

A man driving a motorcycle says a pickup truck driver was driving aggressively toward him for several miles and tensions built as they drove westbound until they hit a stoplight in Manassas.

At the stoplight, the man on the motorcycle, walked up the window of the pickup truck, and the truck driver pulled a gun and fired a shot at the motorcyclist, police said.

The shot missed, and the motorcyclist reached through the window and fought to get the gun away from the truck driver.

"There was definitely a double take, I think, on that one," said Renee Carr of Prince William County police. “'That, that, that happened?'”

Police arrested 57-year-old Timmy Deane of Woodbridge and charged him with attempted malicious wounding, shooting from a vehicle and destruction of property because the gunshot he's accused of firing hit a van in a nearby turn lane in front of a shopping center, police said.

Police said they're thankful no one was seriously injured but stressed that things should have never escalated that far.

“Take a deep breath, try to relax and try to get away from the other driver,” Carr said. “If there's some behavior that they’re seeing in a vehicle near them, try to back off and let them go around."

Police said that they while they encourage people to defend themselves as needed, they would not recommend trying to wrestle a loaded gun away from a shooter.

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