CPD: dash cam in road rage shooting suspect’s car shows him firing gun

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A dashboard camera inside the car of a Columbia shooting suspect shows him firing a gun at another driver, newly filed court documents claim.

The Boone County Prosecutor's Office charged 77-year-old Arnold Phillips on Wednesday with first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action. Phillips is being held in the county jail without bond.

Police arrested Phillips on Tuesday afternoon in south Columbia off Grindstone Parkway.

A probable cause statement from Columbia police said Phillips pulled over behind the Goodwill store after the shooting at the intersection of Grindstone and Bluff Creek Boulevard where police found him. Phillips claimed the victim of the shooting started yelling at him near New Haven Elementary School when Phillips started to slow down for the school zone. The other driver then pulled alongside Phillips at Falling Leaf Parkway and began yelling at him.

Police said Phillips allowed them to watch back the dashboard camera footage he had of the encounter. The video allegedly faces Phillips, who officers said could be seen looking to his left at someone off camera yelling, "'bro what the [expletive] is you looking at. Do you want to die?'"

Officer Corinne Raney wrote that the video then shows Phillips pull out a pistol and shoot at the person.

"Phillips said he was intending to kill Victim 1 because he does not believe in warning shots, but was not actually aiming," Raney said. "Phillips said he did not see if Victim 1 had a firearm and saw no physical
indication to believe if Victim 1 had a firearm."

Assistant prosecutor Paul Wade asked a judge to keep Phillips held in jail without bond because of his actions and because he lives outside of Boone County.

Road rage shootings on the rise across the U.S since COVID-19 pandemic

Road rage incidents have surged nationwide since the pandemic, with deadly consequences. Last year, 133 people were fatally shot in incidents stemming from road rage, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. 

Research shows the number of shootings tied to road rage doubled between 2018-23, jumping from 218 to 483 incidents. That amounts to a driver opening fire at someone in traffic every 18 hours. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an average of 373 people have died in road rage incidents each year since 2019. That figure includes incidents not involving guns. 

Last year, Utah became the first state to establish an enhanced road rage law, which defines road rage, increases penalties, and launches an education campaign to raise awareness about its consequences.

In Missouri, prosecutors rely on existing statutes to handle these cases.

“Missouri doesn't specifically have statutes about road rage, but there are lots of other offenses that can apply in these kind of incidents,” Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson said.  “Just driving your car, there are lots of violations that could occur. But also your car itself is dangerous and can be a weapon in certain circumstances. Road rage incidents can range from anything involving traffic violations all the way to serious assaults that end up with felony convictions, potentially with long sentences.”

Johnson noted that shooting at, or from, a vehicle falls under unlawful use of a weapon, which carries a 15-year prison sentence.

“Missouri self-defense laws can be very complicated, and road rage incidents, especially because a car can be dangerous, somebody can be threatened based on what's happening,” Johnson said. “Self-defense definitely plays into the analysis. And we are always required to look at who the initial aggressor is in the incident and whether it was really necessary for the other person to use force.”

He also explained that simply displaying a gun can be criminal.

“Sometimes we have trials involving the unlawful use of a weapon, exhibiting. So in Missouri, it's a crime just to show a weapon in an angry or threatening manner,” Johnson said.

While Missouri law allows residents to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, Johnson said the consequences of misusing a gun are steep.

“Missouri has strong laws if you use a gun in commission of a crime, but it is legal for people to carry a gun concealed. It's legal for people to have a gun in their car,” he said. “It's not worth proving that you were in the right in order to harm yourself and harm other people.”

Driving instructors say many of these confrontations can be avoided. Megan Matthews, who runs Coach Matthews Driving School, said emotions play a major role.

“Any type of emotion that's negative, excited, or escalated is road rage. Usually, you don't have happy moments with road rage, hence the rage at the end,” Matthews said.

She added that distracted driving often sparks frustration.

“A lot of things I witness are a lot of people are on their phones, they're eating, they're doing something other than actually driving, which then in turn upsets everybody else. Then that's when it comes into play, where then usually the person who's on the phone, eating doesn't see what they're doing is necessarily a problem, but they're not seeing themselves swerving on the road.” 

Matthews said the safest option is to deescalate. She also recommends leaving early to avoid rushing, which she says is one of the most common triggers.

“Just don't provoke it. Don't flick them off. I know one lady on TikTok, she said, just give a thumbs up. But some people may even take offense to that, and that could escalate it. You just never know what anybody is going to do. The thing that I can say is,  maybe say sorry, even if you don't feel like you did anything, but you can gesture ‘my bad, sorry’,” Matthews said. “A lot of times that works. But sometimes people are just angry.  So if you've done your due diligence, you've told them, ‘I'm sorry, it's on me, ’ even if you don't want to take the blame,  it is worth your life. I promise you.”