By Mark Price
The Charlotte Observer
ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. — First responders found themselves running for cover when an unconscious motorist suddenly awoke, pulled a gun and fired at them, according to investigators in North Carolina.
It happened around 11:45 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 18, at an intersection east of Mooresville, according to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. Mooresville is about a 25-mile drive north from Charlotte.
One paramedic was hurt during a fall while seeking cover, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The emergency call was initiated when someone reported “an unresponsive driver” sitting at the intersection of Shinn Farm Road and Highway 152.
“Upon arrival, paramedics determined that (the driver) was likely impaired rather than suffering from a medical condition,” officials said. “While awaiting the N.C. Highway Patrol, (he) brandished a handgun and fired a shot.”
The 40-year-old man then jumped in a nearby fire department truck and “erratically” drove away, the sheriff’s office said. He crashed into another vehicle about a mile and a half away on NC 152, then drove across a soybean field into someone’s yard, officials said.
Deputies apprehended the suspect in the yard. He has been charged with two felony counts of assault on firefighter/specified medical personnel with a firearm, larceny of a motor vehicle, possessing a stolen firearm and driving while impaired, jail records show.
Violence against first responders
A stolen gun was found in the soybean field, officials said.
The suspect ”sustained minor injuries from the crash,” officials said. The other driver was not hurt, officials said.
The injured paramedic was treated for an arm injury at a hospital and released, officials said.
©2024 The Charlotte Observer.
Visit charlotteobserver.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
