LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK — In these kinds of altercations, both men are in the wrong to begin with. Road rage incidents are absolutely unnecessary, and cooler heads should prevail. If another driver cuts you off, or you don’t like how they are driving, its not worth it to get out of the car and engage in an altercation over it. Who knows where it will lead….
Bua, 47, and the 62-year-old victim both jumped out of their cars and began brawling after almost getting a fender bender around 11:15 p.m., Nassau County cops said.
Via NY Daily News
At one point, Bua pulled out a flashlight and started beating the victim over the head, said Nassau County Police spokesman Det. Richard LeBrun.
“Michael Bua exited his vehicle with his flashlight,” Lebrun told reporters. “He hit him several times about his head area, the victim, bleeding profusely at that point.”
The retired cop then pulled out his gun and shot his attacker in the buttocks.
After the incident, both men were taken to the hospital for treatment. Bua to be treated for his gunshot wound, and the retired cop for wounds to his head from the flashlight. The retired cop had a legal license to carry the firearm and police have concluded that he was justified to shoot as this is a case of self-defense.
Bua, on the other hand, was charged with assault and illegal weapons possession for the Tuesday night attack. He also has a prior conviction for assaulting a police officer.
It is clear that the retired cop did use his firearm in an act of self-defense, being beaten over the head with a flashlight is as good a reason as any to draw your gun. However, all of this could have been avoided if either driver just stayed in their vehicle.
The incident escalated from a verbal argument, to a physical argument, then an assault, and finally a shooting. Furthermore, this was in a residential neighborhood past 11pm at night. Neighbors were awoken by the sounds of a gunshot outside their homes.
When one is responsibly carrying a gun, the burden to be extra responsible is on them. Avoiding fights and altercations over trivial things like this is important. Putting yourself in unnecessary situations where you may be forced to use your gun is not a responsible action. In this case a firearm may have ultimately saved a life, but that life was put in danger over road rage.