Fun and Firearms in Fishers

Word out of Fishers Tuesday is that a man, cut off by another driver on I-69 decided to use his .357 Magnum he kept in his vehicle to warn the driver of her inappropriate traffic manuever. The Indianapolis Star reports:

Fishers police spokesman Sgt. Gerry Hepp said the shooting occurred about 6:15 p.m., while Schmoll and his wife were driving north on I-69 south of 96th Street.

Hepp said Schmoll claimed he feared for his safety when a woman in the inside lane tried three times to merge into his lane, prompting Schmoll to pull his .357 Magnum and fire what he described as a “warning shot” that hit the vehicle’s right front ender.

No one was injured in the incident.

“Her lane was ending,” Hepp said of the 26-year-old Fishers woman who was not immediately identified. “She said that he sped up and would not allow her to enter his lane. He describes it as he was just driving and she tried to run him off the road.”

Hepp said that both drivers exited onto Ind. 37 and turned east onto 126th Street, where Schmoll admitted to pointing the gun at her again.

After Schmoll told the woman to get away from him, she fled and called police. Schmoll also dialed 911 to report the incident.

I find it interesting that Mr. Schmoll's wife was in the car with him during the road range incident. One might think she would have pointed out the inherent contradiction in shooting at another car to warn that person about the need to drive more safely. Then again, perhaps Mr. Schmoll was already upset because Mrs. Schmoll was insisting that he stop and ask for directions about the time when he was cut off in traffic.

The best part of the story though is that Mr. Schmoll also called 911. That leads me to believe he was so certain he was in the right that he had no problem reporting the incident to the authorities. Apparently though the authorities did not comprehend the propriety of using a .357 Mangum to encourage a bad driver to improve her driving skills. Go figure.