The incident started when a 35-year-old Tampa man called "Driver 1" was found slumped over in his car in a southbound lane of the Howard Frankland Bridge a little before 9:30 a.m. ET Tuesday, the Highway Patrol said.
A second car, driven by Ahmed Gahaf, 40, of Tampa, stopped in front of Driver 1 to see whether he was OK. That's when Driver 1 "awoke and drove forward, colliding with Driver 2's vehicle," the Highway Patrol said.
"Driver 1 reversed and attempted to drive around Driver 2's (Gahaf's) vehicle" and then "collided with Driver 3's vehicle which was passing the incident," it said.
Driver 3 was Scruggs, who "stopped, exited his vehicle, approached Driver 1, broke out a side window and began to stab Driver 1 multiple times with a pocket knife," the Highway Patrol said.
I can't find that the police have said why the dude was passed out in his car. Maybe it was a medical emergency, maybe he was on the nod from the dope, whatever. At any rate, he was obviously disoriented when he came to and tried to drive off and bumped into another car, whose driver basically immediately escalated to stabbery.
Road rage is way up. Don't expect someone to react to a fender-bender with a calm exchange of insurance info. Be alert for weirdness.
Stay alert for it, too.
Claude Werner refers to an incident where there was a bit of shouty road rage in a Home Depot parking lot in Brooklyn. It appeared to have deescalated, with both parties entering the store and doing their shopping...
"He was trying to go into a parking space...I pulled up behind the guy, he had to back up and I was impeding on him trying to back up," McDuffie said. "I didn't realize it, I blew my horn for a second and we exchanged words."Claude wisely suggests that, after a confrontation like the one in the parking lot, you leave and essentially conduct the sort of counter-surveillance that a spy would when trying to detect and shake a tail.
He said both drivers got out of the car and McDuffie said he tried to quickly diffuse the situation before it escalated.
McDuffie said both he and the suspect appeared to move on from the issue and they continued their business inside the store.
The couple left around 12:15 p.m. and pulled over on Willoughby Avenue. That's when McDuffie said he felt something hit him and the gunman opened fire before running away.
Don't assume that just because you've let it go, the other party has done likewise. Remember, they were willing to escalate to the edge of violence over something minor already, and there's no reason to assume that they've suddenly become more rational. Leave, and ensure they are not following.
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