SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) - Prosecutors are declining to charge a southwest Florida motorcyclist who shot another motorist during a road rage incident.
Assistant State Attorney Earl Varn wrote in a memo issued last week that the state wouldn't be able to convict 22-year-old Christian Gunter. The Herald-Tribune (http://goo.gl/ewHZyu ) reports that Sarasota County deputies previously charged Gunter with aggravated battery with a firearm.
Gunter's attorney, Jeffrey Young, wrote that his client feared for his life when he shot and wounded 59-year-old Roger Atlas at a gas station last month. The defense attorney wrote that Atlas had been swerving into Gunter's lane of traffic, nearly striking him multiple times, before the confrontation at a gas station.
Varn's memo says video evidence contradicts statements Atlas made to investigators.
A telephone listing for Atlas couldn't be found.
In a previous report, police said Gunter was driving his motorcycle South on US-41, just south of Bee Ridge Road, when he got in a confrontation with Atlas, who was driving a red Ford Taurus.
The two pulled over in a Sunoco gas station and the verbal argument turned physical, and that's when Gunter pulled out a handgun and shot Atlas in the abdomen.
Atlas was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital with non life-threatening injuries.
Police interviewed Atlas at the hospital. He told them Gunter pulled up next to him at the stop light at S. Tamiami Trail and Ivanhoe Street and complained to him about his driving.
According to the arrest affidavit, Atlas said he told Gunter his vehicle was having trouble and possible overheating and to mind his own business. When the light turned green, Atlas started driving and Gunter pulled up behind him.
Atlas said Gunter continued to follow him, even after changing lanes multiple times, and followed him into the Sunoco parking lot where Atlas stopped to reportedly get a beverage. Atlas said he approached Gunter about following him, and during the argument, Gunter pulled out a gun and the two started to struggle. During the struggle, the gun went off and shot Atlas in the lower left abdomen.
Surveillance video shows after the shooting, Gunter ran into the gas station and said he just shot someone and asked them to call 911. Atlas got in his car and drove to the other end of the parking lot.
Gunter was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a firearm.
