Yesterday in VA

[GTH]

Father of toddler opens fire on I-95, police say
March 24, 2010 - 11:44am


Gabriel Poventud faces multiple charges. (Photo courtesy of Virginia State Police) DALE CITY, Va. -- The drivers of a Jaguar and a dump truck face charges after a road rage duel on Interstate 95 that included shots fired at the height of Tuesday afternoon's rush hour.
Gabriel Poventud, 25, of Woodbridge, who police say had his 2-year-old daughter in his Jaguar, has been charged with child endangerment, attempted homicide, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, shooting a missile into an occupied vehicle and reckless use of a firearm.

Poventud fired 13 rounds, police say.

This happened after the driver of a 2007 Ford F550 dump truck tried to merge into the southbound lanes of I-95 from Route 123, shortly after 4 p.m.

Police say the drivers then "began engaging with one another in an aggressive manner."

The dump truck struck the Jaguar twice.

Both vehicles ended up on the left shoulder of the highway, pinned against the Jersey wall. That's when Poventud got out of his car and started firing at the truck, police say.

The dump truck pulled away into traffic, but was struck by at least four of the 13 rounds. Truck driver James Bringham, 44, of Woodbridge, was not hurt by the gunfire.

As Poventud followed Bringham on the right shoulder, a trooper stopped both drivers.

Virginia State Police charged Bringham with reckless driving.

Police say they have no reports of other drivers or vehicles being struck by the gunfire.

Police say drivers should avoid engaging with aggressive drivers.

The Smooth Operator Program offers these tips:


Steer clear of aggressive drivers and get out of their way;
Stay calm;
Don't challenge aggressive drivers. Avoid eye contact. Don't make rude gestures;
Give drivers the benefit of the doubt. Not all aggressive driving behavior is intentional;
Move to the right, if you are driving slower than the rest of traffic and don't block the passing lane;
Dial #77 on a cell phone to report aggressive drivers.
(Copyright 2010 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

[theicemanmpls]

Any idea if Gabriel Poventud is a carry permit holder?
It is incidents like this that create problems for all firearms owners.

My solution is mandatory mental heath testing before firearms ownership is allowed. One only has to see the puzzle doctor once. One fee. One permit, good in all 50 states.

After working in a gun store, and helping the general public with shooting, I am serious about mental health testing. There are several people out there who are mentally imbalanced, and have not been classified as crazy.

People like Gabriel should not be permitted near firearms.

[GTH]

I'll follow this on the local news to find out.

[Piece Corps]

NO...NO...NO mandatory mental health screening! Never! Already, vets returning from the Middle East are automatically being deemed as having mental problems, just because they've been in a war zone. Who is going to decide at what point to decide one's mental health is indeed a danger severe enough to warrant forbidding a gun purchase?

Look at the guy in Oregon (?) who was arrested and had his newly-purchased guns confiscated, and never did ANYTHING unlawful in the process. He was fired from his job, and went out and purchased several firearms. And this was enough for the local LEOs to decide that he MIGHT do something illegal. Does that sound like a fair decision? Pro-actively enforcing a law that the cops decide MIGHT be committed?

Where does it stop? This guy is driving a Jaguar, so you might say he isn't broke, and probably is successful. So he buys a gun, and one day goes postal and shoots at someone who tried to drive him off the road by ramming his car with a dump truck. Gee! We should have seen that coming.

And what about the guy in the dump truck? I'd say that someone who uses a dump truck to intentionally ram a smaller car is using his vehicle as a deadly weapon.

IF - you have been certified as mentally ill because of your illness and not because you decided to purchase a gun, then by all means, do not clear the background check. But the day that THE GOVERNMENT decides that you have to pass a mental exam before you can buy a gun is the day that all our rights have been lost. And I can guarantee you that right now, everyone who owns a gun, especially those who own more than one, are being looked at by our government as mentally unstable. Does the term "gun nut" sound familiar? It should.

[GTH]

By Chris Gordon
NBCWashington.com
updated 1 hour, 21 minutes ago
There are new charges in the case of a road rage incident on Interstate 95 near Woodbridge, Va.

James Bringham, 44, is now charged with attempted second degree murder. He was driving a dump truck that hit a Jaguar being driven by another man Tuesday.

But Bringham's father says his son was the victim in the case. John Bringham says his son James called him Tuesday night and described what he says happened.


"He said, all of a sudden this Jaguar pulls up alongside him on the right and points a gun at him. And he said, 'I had no place to go, so I ran him right into the guard rail. Then he shows up to my left and I ran him into the guard rail. And then he got out of the car and started shooting at me and I moved out,'" John Bringham told News4.

John Bringham says the attempted second degree murder charge against his son is "ridiculous."

"He was just protecting himself," James Bringham's father said.

As for the felony charge accusing Bringham of failing to stop at the scene of an accident, his father says," he was ducking and called 911 on his cell phone. They told him to stop. He said, 'I won't stop while there's someone shooting at me. I'll stop when I see police.'"

Bringham did stop when Virginia Sate police converged on the scene.

The driver of the Jaguar , 25-year-old Gabriel Poventud is charged with attempted murder, using a firearm and child endangerment. His two-year-old daughter was riding in back at the time. His family has chosen not to speak publicly about the incident.

Poventud was arrested on the scene. A day later Bringham, the dump truck driver was taken into custody. Now the drivers will face separate trials to determine if each committed the crimes they've been charged with in this case of road rage turned violent.





Road Rage Results in Felony Charges - News- msnbc.com

[BigSlick]

"Gabriel Poventud, 25, of Woodbridge, who police say had his 2-year-old daughter in his Jaguar, has been charged with child endangerment, attempted homicide, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, shooting a missile into an occupied vehicle and reckless use of a firearm."

Where did the missile come from? Maybe one of those UAV's was shooting at him! Pretty soon airsoft pistols will be weapons of mass destruction.

[Scarecrow]

"Gabriel Poventud, 25, of Woodbridge, who police say had his 2-year-old daughter in his Jaguar, has been charged with child endangerment, attempted homicide, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, shooting a missile into an occupied vehicle and reckless use of a firearm."

Where did the missile come from? Maybe one of those UAV's was shooting at him! Pretty soon airsoft pistols will be weapons of mass destruction.

let's not forget about NERF... are they still allowed to make toy guns?

[SCfromNY]

The problem with the "mental health" restrictions is they can be written and changed to encompass a huge amount of issues many that would have no adverse effect on gun ownership or anything else.

Do you trust your elected officials to craft a logical straight forward law that is based on common sense? If yes I am happy for your current state of bliss. The rest may continue when the laughter stops.

[Suecoho]

Well, maybe I'm just a bit confused here, but it seems to me if I'm in a small car with my child in the back seat and a dumptruck starts ramming the side of my car, my child's life is in danger. Needless to say, if I had a way to remove myself from the danger I would, however if I did not have any other avenue of escape...just a thought.

[Booga]

Where did the missile come from?

The missile came from the gun. Remember, the term missile can refer to any thrown or launched flying object, not limited to Hellfire missiles, arrows, darts, rocks, bottles, and bullets.

I'm sure the law was worded that way so that people can't get away with throwing things at people.