Two drivers, a male, and a female were involved in a minor car crash in Southeast Washington DC on December 14, 2022. The boyfriend of the female driver showed up and started punching the male driver, who retrieved his handgun, shot, and killed the assailant.
The female driver tried to get a security guard to assist, but her request was denied. The male driver stayed on site and was charged with carrying a pistol without a license and taken into custody. He was fitted with an ankle monitor and released.
The shooter has claimed self-defense and will have a hearing towards the end of January.
The story doesn’t say if the altercation was under control until the boyfriend showed up, nor does it give any indication of who might have been at fault.
The Metropolitan Police Department Commander said of the shooting:
“Another senseless act of violence over an accident. That is exactly what it is. It’s an accident. He continued, “This senseless violence where people decide to bring guns to all these different things to settle disputes, we have to do better.”
Of course, this statement doesn’t take into account whether or not the gun was brought into play before the boyfriend assaulted the male driver. In areas of the country where gun control is the strictest, such as Washington DC, even cases of self-defense with a firearm are often frowned upon and lumped in with incidents of truly senseless gun violence.
That being said, the Commander is correct in saying that this was a simple accident. Whether you are at fault or someone else, the damage is done. Keeping your cool, and providing the police with your driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance, as well as your statement as to what happened is your best option. Do not let something that happens to somebody, somewhere, every day turn into an altercation that gets you arrested or ends in the loss of life, unless you do, in fact, have to defend your life from an angry, unhinged driver.
