In 2021, Eric Popper cut off another driver while driving to work on I-95. The other driver began tailgating and honking his horn at the 30-year-old. Popper brake-checked him.

That definitely helped deëscalate things.

thisisyourbrainonFark: Wowsa. Bet he farked up his Tesla.

He drives a Toyota Venza.

Here is the actual video: https://twitter.com/AndySlater/status/1487158883114172419

TorpedoOrca: shoot THROUGH the windshield

That's something you only do when the target is in front of you and is a direct threat to you.

For a driver who might have a pistol and be firing at you, if the pull up alongside and forward of the right side of your car (in LHD countries) that would require a driver to either have the pistol in their right hand and be twisted all the way around anticlockwise to be firing backwards out the left side of the car, or they'd have to have the gun in their left hand and somehow have that hand/arm out the window and twisted around to be firing backwards out the left side of the car.

It takes A LOT of handgun practice for people in the driver seat of a car to be able to use a pistol in their right hand and turn to fire straight out 90º of their window, let alone fire behind them. It's a very pro move to be able to do that.

Passengers in a vehicle have more ability to move/twist around with a pistol out the window and fire in more directions, though. They don't have to focus on driving, so they are more dangerous with a gun because they can fire out the side windows with more accuracy and also fire backwards from the car with more accuracy.

Summing it all up - you really only fire forward through your own windshield if a car has passengers who are hanging a gun out the window and firing at you with potentially more accuracy than a driver could do.

hammettman: Stand your ground, from a water bottle?

That's a major question - there isn't any proof it was a water bottle.

DoganSquirrelSlayer: I have another theory about why the charges go dropped

From other articles about the incident, it says both drivers pulled over to call 911. FHP says the one driver threw a water bottle at the car and this guy claims it was a gunshot.

My theory: FHP didn't do anything close to an actual investigation such as searching the first vehicle for a firearm (that the driver claims he didn't have) and didn't do any gunshot residue tests on the first driver's hands (for the gun he claims he didn't use). Thus, FHP set the stage for a somewhat incontestable claim that the first driver did have and use a gun.

If the investigating agency did basically zero investigation, it really farks up the case against the guy.