Bullet flies through windshield on busy interstate, nearly hits driver
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - A ride home on Interstate 285 in DeKalb County on Thursday night took a terrifying turn for 25-year-old Taylor Neely.
After the incident, he said he is grateful to be alive.
Neely was on I-285 near the Northlake Parkway exit at around 11:30 p.m., on his way back from performing at a comedy show.
What happened next was no laughing matter.
Neely said he was driving in the left lane, when a black Dodge Charger flew past him in the center lane. A red car was on its tail.
Then, he heard a pop.
"I thought was the exhaust backfiring," Neely said.
When his back window blew out, he realized it was not.
"I was like, jeez, I’m lucky this didn’t hit me. That was the first thought," Neely recalled, the moments after he realized what had just happened. And I think, am I in shock right now? What’s going on? And when I was waiting for the police, I cried a little bit because like, jeez, I could have died."
He pulled off to the nearest exit and met a police officer in the parking lot of a hotel. He said it all happened so quickly that he did not get either cars’ license plates.
Interstate shootings have become all too common recently in the Atlanta metro area. This incident is at least the eleventh of its kind so far this year. At least five of those shootings were fatal.
INTERSTATE SHOOTINGS:
- Road rage left Indiana man shot along I-75 in Clayton County, police say
- Man shot while he was inside of his vehicle on I-85'
- Texas rapper shot and killed on I-85 in Gwinnett County
Neely, a handyman who moonlights as a comedian, said the whole ordeal definitely left him shaken up, but being able to laugh about it has been cathartic.
"It made for a good story to tell on stage," he said. "I was at a show last night and I told it, and it went well."
The DeKalb County Police Department tells Fox 5 they are investigating the incident, but they do not have any leads right now.
They are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS.
WATCH: FOX 5 Atlanta live news coverage
_____
Sign up for FOX 5 email alerts
Download the FOX 5 Atlanta app for breaking news and weather alerts.