| If you have thoughts of asserting yourself on Charleston's west side, like asking a speeding motorist to slow down. You might
want to think about it some more. A young man and his dog were shot Easter Sunday afternoon, after the man yelled at a
passing motorist when he turned down a residential street.
A Roane County woman and her child, visiting relatives near West Washington Street, told the Charleston newspapers they
got caught in the crossfire in a parking lot. She heard the shouting, and then pushed her son to the ground behind a car
and fell on top of him.
The Gazette said shootings are not rare in the area, but the apparently random nature of this one scared the woman, who
didn't want to be identified.
"We're going back to Roane County as soon as we can," she said. "I certainly don't feel safe here now."
Charleston Police said the driver of the vehicle turned around, stopped and told the pedestrian "I will murder you." He then
unloaded, sending several bystanders, including children, ducking for cover behind cars at a Rite-Aid parking lot.
Police identified the victim as Michael Bryant, who was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center with a wound to his leg.
His dog, shot in its stomach, was taken to a vet clinic.
The driver yelled back at Bryant, then turned around in the Charleston Department Store parking lot and came back to the
Rite Aid parking lot to shoot him.
Police spent much of Sunday afternoon looking for the suspect.
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