MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Earlier this week, WREG told you about a road rage shooting on a Memphis street that ended with a man in jail. Now, that man says although he was the one arrested, there is more to the story.
The sound of a gun shot rang out Tuesday morning on Lamar Avenue at Tuggle during a road rage incident that WREG caught on camera.
Video shows 39-year-old Justin Shaw shooting into the ground.
Now, Shaw is charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, but he says there is more to the story.
In this video WREG captured, you can see the man in the orange shirt walking toward Shaw who is standing next to his pickup truck. Shaw tells WREG that the “other man” was the “aggressor.”
He says he continuously tried to de-escalate the situation and only fired his gun because he feared for his life.
Alex Coker is an officer at Northwest Mississippi Community College. He says he trains his staff for situations like this, on and off the road.
“Rule number one is never argue with a man with a gun,” Coker said. “If at all possible, drive away today and live to fight another day. It’s not worth sitting around.”
Shaw says he wasn’t sitting around. He was “protecting” himself and is licensed to carry.
In the video, you can see the other man turns around and gets back in his car. He told police he was shot in the leg.
Coker says having a gun does not mean use it.
“Let it go, let it go,” Coker said. “It’s not worth your time, wrecking your car or possibly risking your life.”
Coker says he is thankful that this shot into the ground did not turn out worse.