Bullet blasts through windshield, bounces off driver's chest

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Trucker Marcus Long and his fiancé were driving his normal route along Interstate 85 southbound near Sugar Creek Road just before midnight Tuesday when he saw several people next to a car on the side of the highway.
 
He heard gunfire and his windshield shattered so he immediately pulled over.
 
When I got out, I looked on the seat and saw the bullet. It had hit me in the chest," Long said.
 
Amazingly, he was not injured.
 
"I think the windshield caught the impact and turned it enough that it caught me sideways," the trucker said.
 
Police tracked down the car and arrested 23-year-old Xavier Brown.

It is not known if Brown was aiming at the truck but people who work along the stretch of I-85 said gunfire is nothing new.

"Over the years, we have seen bullets in the parking lot," said John Tepper, who sells big rigs.
 
He said 18-wheelers have thicker windshields than cars.

“I don’t hear a lot about bullets coming through windows and hitting people and them living to talk about it,” Tepper said.

Long will be back on the job again soon but he said he'll be thinking about his brush with disaster each time he passes through Charlotte and is grateful he was not hurt.

To see more local news stories, click here.

WSOC