CHARLOTTE — Ryan Killian says it’s a “miracle” that his father is alive after a road rage shooting that happened this past weekend in west Charlotte.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is searching for the driver in a silver sedan who’s accused of opening fire on Interstate-485 this past Sunday.
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Channel 9’s Ken Lemon spoke with Ryan on Wednesday and learned that his father, Parish Killian, was shot after a driver cut them off.
The shooting happened as Ryan and Parish were on their way to do yard work at a friend’s home. Ryan said a car cut him off on I-485 Outer, and he honked at him.
“I was trying to ignore the guy, I knew something told me that it wasn’t something I was trying to deal with that day,” he said.
Then the driver in that car pulled up alongside the passenger side of the Parish’s Jeep.
“I hit the gas to try to get away from the situation,” Ryan said.
Ryan says the driver exchanged words with his father, then suddenly, the glass shattered. Ryan says the driver fired multiple shots, and one of them hit his father in the head.
He said he remembers seeing the car drive off, but he called 911 to get help for his dad.
“Soon as I looked up that’s the first thing I saw. He was speeding off and I looked to my right and my dad was slumped over beside me,” Ryan said.
CMPD shared a surveillance picture that shows the silver sedan, saying that it was last seen speeding toward the Interstate 77 interchange.
Since the shooting, Ryan said he has been waiting by his father’s side at the hospital, hoping for improvements and justice in the case.
“I think it’s a miracle. The doctors said he had a very, very high chance of not making it,” Ryan said.
Police are asking anyone with information on the suspect to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or leave a tip on their mobile app.