MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The 70-year-old man who was shot at on Highway 385 Saturday in apparent retaliation for a fender bender is opening up about the moments that left his car riddled in bullets.
Alex Warren says there was bumper-to-bumper traffic on 385 near Ridgeway as he drove to visit his three-week-old great-grandson.
Just before 8 p.m., Warren said the gray Nissan Altima in front of him had to brake suddenly.
“He throwed on the brakes and I had to throw on the brakes real hard,” Warren said.
Warren said he couldn’t stop in time and ended up bumping the Nissan.
As he pulled over to the shoulder to exchange insurance information with the other driver, he said he heard a sound that he later realized was gunfire.
“I noticed my window on the back passenger’s side, the glass was falling out of it so then I realized that, yeah, he’s shooting at me,” he said.
A witness confirms Warren’s account and told police he saw the gunfire coming from the Nissan.
Warren wasn’t injured but the episode has left him shaken.
Memphis has recorded 31 highway shootings so far this year including 10 this month.
Wednesday morning, a man said his car was shot on I-40 near Sam Cooper because he refused to let the shooter into his lane.
Later on Wednesday, a man and woman driving on I-40 near Austin Peay say they were followed and nearly run off the road before the driver of the car following them displayed a gun. No shots were fired in that case.
Although a witness was able to get a license plate number in Saturday’s shooting, police haven’t made any arrests yet. Warren continues to wonder why it happened.
“I was totally caught off guard. I was shocked,” he said.
“I’m still wondering, you know: why? You know, why? All he had to do was pull over.”