A recent road rage incident turned into a knife attack, according to Fox 5 Atlanta, forcing the victim to defend themselves with a pistol.
The victim was following a black SUV on October 3, driven by one Tyler Leikam, 35, of Cumming, Ga, a suburb of Atlanta. Leikam was apparently driving too slowly for the following driver’s liking, as he was following Leikam closely.
Leikam brake-checked the car behind him. When the two vehicles stopped at a traffic light, Leikam began screaming obscenities and then got out of his vehicle, escalating from mere road rage to assault and battery.
Leikam started by physically fighting with the victim through the window, then drew a knife, punctured a tire, and went back to the driver’s side door with the knife. The victim drew a pistol and shot Leikam, striking him in the hand and causing him to drop the knife.
Leikam fled the scene and was later taken into custody. He will face charges of Aggravated Assault, Criminal Damage to Property and Battery.
On The Virtues Of Defensive Driving And Weapon Focus
As with other incidents where an attacker was shot in the hand, what happened is the shooter was weapon-focused. He drew a gun and shot the knife. Luckily, it worked.
Weapon-focused shooting is something that works out by happenstance, so it’s not something you want to try to work into a training and practice regimen. There are instances where law enforcement or armed service members have shot someone in the hand to compel them to drop a weapon, but it requires an expert marksman and circumstances allowing the time to set up the shot.
However, the key takeaway should be this:
There are a lot of benefits to following at two to three car lengths rather than one or less. You get additional reaction time, and as the saying goes, time buys you options…like not plowing into the car in front of you in case of a sudden stop!
Tailgating is also common in road rage incidents, both in terms of what aggressive/road raging drivers do and what can set them off.
That isn’t to say it was the victim’s fault; obviously, the knife-wielding maniac chose to respond the way he did and is responsible for his own actions. It’s more that not driving in an aggressive fashion yourself can avoid escalating events in the normal course of traffic into a fight.
