Update 11 p.m. Wednesday: Both drivers arrested on attempted murder charges. Click here to read more.
DUMFRIES, Va. -- Tempers flared and gunfire erupted on southbound Interstate 95 during Tuesday's evening rush hour.
Troopers say the driver of a silver Jaguar fired at least 13 shots at a dump truck driver after miles of aggressive driving through Woodbridge.
It started when the driver of a 2007 Ford F550 dump truck was attempting to merge into the southbound lanes of I-95 from Va. 123 and encountered the 2004 Jaguar traveling southbound on I-95. The drivers of the two vehicles began driving aggressively, state police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said. While heading south on I-95, the dump truck struck the Jaguar two times, she said.
As they approached the 159 mile marker, the two vehicles ended up on the left shoulder and pinned against the jersey wall. At 4:23 p.m., the driver of the Jaguar got out of his car -- leaving his 2-year-old daughter inside -- and started firing a handgun at the dump truck. The truck driver, a 44-year-old Woodbridge man, pulled away into traffic. His truck was hit by at least four of the 13 rounds fired by the Jaguar’s driver, Geller said.
The 25-year-old Jaguar driver then followed after the dump truck. Trooper B.W. Coleman stopped both drivers at the 154 mile marker.
The Jaguar driver, Gabriel Poventud, 25, of Woodbridge, was arrested at the scene, Geller said. He and his daughter were not injured. Poventud was charged with child endangerment, attempted homicide, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, shooting a missile into an occupied vehicle and reckless use of a firearm, Geller said.
The driver of the dump truck, James Bringham, was charged with reckless driving. He was not injured either.
State police had no reports of other vehicles struck by gunfire.
In a study by AAA Mid-Atlantic, Washington drivers said they felt more threatened by aggressive drivers than by drunken drivers.
AAA reports that men are more likely than women to be involved in road rages incidents and, surprisingly, drivers with children are more likely to respond aggressively.
Communities editor Kari Pugh can be reached at 703-878-8056.
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