A fight that began as a road rage incident on Tuesday led to an arrest in Mesquite after a man pulled a gun and pointed it at another man, according to police.
The road rage incident took place around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday in the 18600 block of Interstate 635. Police believe that both vehicles involved in the road rage were stopped in a parking lot.
A video taken by a witness showed one of the men knocking the other to the ground. The person who was knocked down was identified as 51-year-old suspect Stephen Phillips.
Phillips stood up and pulled a gun on the other man. The video showed the other man attempting to disarm Phillips. The man was successful and the two men are shown walking away in the same direction.
Police revealed that Phillips attempted to pull the trigger during the fight but was unable to because the gun’s safety was on.
The other man accidentally fired the gun while trying to clear it, according to police.
Police arrested Phillips and he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Neither Phillips nor the other man reported any damage or injuries.
Pastor Ricardo Miller captured the incident while watching from an office in the Town East Tower, across from Town East Mall.
Miller told WFAA that when he saw the gun he kept thinking, “Please don’t pull the trigger, don’t pull the trigger.”
“My thinking is – if he shoots this guy, he could kill him and any bystanders,” he said.
Miller noted the importance of gun safety.
“I think it’s important for those who are gun carriers to remind themselves that there is a time where you can honestly say a life is threatened,” Miller said. “But there are a lot of times when you can be angry, but that doesn’t mean your life is threatened. There is a big difference. You can be embarrassed, frustrated, you cannot like what is happening to you. But that still doesn’t give you a right to pull out a gun.”
Officer Jolyn Lopez of Mesquite Police Department stated that road rage incidents are becoming more common across North Texas.
“Don’t try to win the battle. It’s better to disengage from an angry driver and call 911,” said Lopez.
