A La Vergne man is facing a felony charge after police say he fired a handgun into the air during a road rage confrontation that spilled into a residential neighborhood last Thursday night. The woman involved in the confrontation told officers she had been cut off in traffic, honked her horn, and followed the other vehicle before the situation turned dangerous near Snowdrop Drive and Large Poppy Drive.
According to WKRN News 2, the La Vergne Police Department received a 911 call just before 7 p.m. last Thursday, October 15, after a woman reported that another vehicle had cut her off while she was driving home. She honked her horn and then followed the other driver into the neighborhood near Snowdrop Drive and Large Poppy Drive, police said. The other vehicle stopped on Large Poppy Drive, and the driver reportedly fired a shot into the air as the woman began driving away.
Crime scene investigators later recovered a spent shell casing on Large Poppy Drive, according to WGNS Radio.
Flat Tires Weren't From Gunfire
Officers found the woman's vehicle on Snowdrop Drive near Waldron Road with both front tires flat. Investigators determined the tires were punctured by screws in the roadway, the station's report notes, not by the suspect's weapon.
After identifying the suspect vehicle, officers contacted a man along Dahlia Drive. During questioning, he allegedly admitted that he had gotten out of his vehicle and fired one round into the air because he believed he was being followed, per the same account. Law enforcement reportedly recovered a gun from the home and collected it as evidence before taking the man into custody. He was subsequently charged with aggravated assault.
Why Firing Into the Air Still Counts as a Felony
Tennessee law does not require a firearm to actually strike or be aimed at a person to support an aggravated assault charge. Displaying or firing a gun during a confrontation is legally sufficient if it places someone in reasonable fear of imminent bodily harm, according to The Baker Law Firm. The suspect allegedly said he fired into the air because he believed he was being followed. He was charged with a felony.
Under Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-13-102, an intentional or knowing assault involving the display or use of a deadly weapon is classified as a Class C felony, carrying a sentencing range of 3 to 15 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000, per Stephens & DiRado, LLP. Where in that range a sentence lands typically depends on whether the defendant is a standard or repeat offender.
A Pattern Playing Out Across Tennessee Roads
Police in Burlington advised road-rage victims to call 911 rather than confront another driver, as Hoodline has previously reported. In this case, the reporting driver followed the suspect into a residential neighborhood after being cut off, which appears to have triggered his panicked response.
The La Vergne incident fits a broader statewide pattern. Tennessee consistently ranks among the top five states in the nation for road rage incidents involving firearms, with more than 20 people shot and either wounded or killed in armed traffic altercations statewide every year, according to WPLN News. Nationally, Everytown Research data shows 483 people were shot in road rage incidents in 2023, resulting in 118 deaths — an average of one person killed or wounded in an armed road rage altercation every 18 hours.
Tennessee's gun laws have expanded access to firearms in vehicles over the past decade. The state enacted its Guns in Trunks law in 2013 allowing handguns in personal vehicles, then expanded access further in July 2021 with permitless handgun carry under T.C.A. § 39-17-1307, which allows adults 21 and older to carry loaded handguns in public without a permit or safety training, according to Giffords Law Center.
La Vergne Near Nashville
La Vergne sits about 15 miles southeast of Nashville in northern Rutherford County.
Officials have released no additional information about Thursday's arrest beyond what was shared following the man's booking.
