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Woman talks about escalation of road rage in east Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A single bullet hole in the back of the Acura SUV showed just how close a case of road rage had come to being deadly on Sunday afternoon in east Charlotte.

“Of course I'm panicking, I call the police,” the woman who was driving that SUV told Eyewitness News.

She said she and her son were approaching an intersection on Idlewild Road at around 12:45 p.m. Sunday when a white van in front of them screeched to a sudden stop and the driver started yelling.

“He just started yelling all types of racial slurs,” she said.

Her 15-year-old son was in the front seat with her and heard the racial slurs, then saw the driver go for a weapon.

“He was reaching in his passenger seat for something and he pulled out a gun,” he said.  At that point the woman said she pulled off, but the white van pulled in behind her and then she heard a shot.

I hear "pop!"…and I'm like, did he just shoot my tire out?”

She didn't know it at the time but the bullet hit the back of the car and it was headed for the front seat if it hadn't been for the spare tire that intercepted it.

“Had my spare tire not been in the back of the vehicle the bullet would've gone straight through to my son's back,” she said.

She and her son were talking with police 15 minutes later when the same white van drove by and they pointed it out to police.

Officers pulled it over and found John Johnson, 47, behind the wheel.

The victims identified him as the man who had shot at them, and when police went to Johnson’s home looking for the gun they found more than they expected—15 marijuana plants valued at $33,000 and a full growing operation.

Johnson was not home Tuesday, and his attorney said he is not commenting on the case at this point.

He is facing assault and drug charges, including growing marijuana less than 1,000 feet from a school.

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