Cab driver charged in Camdenton shooting

Editor's note: Ethridge's name was corrected.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Camdenton, Missouri, man was charged Tuesday with three felonies for allegedly shooting another man and puncturing his lung.

Aaron M. Ethridge, 39, is charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm in the shooting, which happened at about 7 p.m. Monday on Lakeview Drive in Camdenton. Police found Ethridgeand arrested him about four hours after the shooting.

Police found a man with a gunshot wound to the chest when they arrived and the victim told officers "help me, I'm dying," a probable cause statement says. Police later learned the man's lung had been punctured, requiring a chest tube to be inserted. He had also been shot in the wrist, the statement says.

He was stable at Lake Regional Hospital, the Camdenton Police Department said in a news release Tuesday.

Witnesses said the victim was walking on Highway 54 when Ethridge's van, bearing a "taxi" sign, buzzed him and he struck the van with a fishing pole in retaliation, breaking a window. Ethridgethen shot the victim and drove away, the statement says.

Investigators were able to get surveillance video from a nearby business that showed the shooting. They tracked the vehicle to TNA Driving Services, where Ethridge works, the statement says.

Police found Ethridge at his dead mother's house, where they also found the van with a broken window, according to the statement. The gun was not recovered, the statement says.

Ethridge was being held Tuesday in the Camden County Jail. Bond had not been set early Tuesday afternoon, according to court records.