Confrontation Over Speeding Leads To Shooting

An attempt to slow down a driver ends with gunfire. A Rogers County man is in jail after he got into a fight with a man he thought was driving too fast through his neighborhood. News On 6 anchor Omar

Tuesday, September 4th 2007, 12:05 pm

By: News On 6

An attempt to slow down a driver ends with gunfire. A Rogers County man is in jail after he got into a fight with a man he thought was driving too fast through his neighborhood. News On 6 anchor Omar Villafranca reports the driver is in critical condition with two gunshot wounds, and deputies are still trying figure out what happened.

The Rogers County neighborhood near Collinsville is growing fast.

â€œWe've got more than 300 residential subdivisions in the unincorporated areas of the county. More people outside the city limits than any other county in Oklahoma, so yes, it's a common thing," said Rogers County Undersheriff Barry Lamb.

With more people comes more traffic, some of it moving too fast. Thirty-seven year old Mark Abshire faces shooting with intent to kill charges after he confronted a speeder in his neighborhood late Sunday night.

Court documents obtained by the News On 6 say Abshire told Rogers County deputies "he was tired of speeders coming down his road.â€ Abshire shouted at one driver he says was speeding, then had "a bad feeling... so he got a pistol" from his house and returned to his driveway. When the driver came by the men exchanged words, a fight started and Abshire "pulled out the pistol and fired two rounds" hitting the driver twice in the stomach.

"The shooting happened in a rural neighborhood. Even though the posted speed limit is 20 miles per hour, the Undersheriff says the neighborhood roads are tempting to speeders.

"The neighborhoods are built like a racetrack. Long stretches, straight roads," Lamb said.

Rogers County deputies say they do respond to speeding calls, but admit itâ€™s a tough problem to solve.

"Understandably, it's difficult because often by the time they get there the speeders gone," said Lamb.

Abshire faces shooting with intent to kill charges. He's being held on a $200,000 bond.

News On 6 anchor Omar Villafranca spoke to several neighbors, who didn't want to go on camera, but they said speeding is a problem in the subdivision. Neighbors say they plan to ask the Rogers County Commissioners for help to slow speeders down in the neighborhood.

Watch the video: Man Allegedly Attacks Neighbor