GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A man was arrested Wednesday after police said he fired shot at a Gwinnett County man who honked at him.
A father and his 16-year-old son were driving home when a honked horn at a red light set off a chain of events that ended in gunfire, according to Gwinnett County police.
Police say it started at Pleasant Hill Road and Arc Way the night of March 7. The father and his son were stopped behind a white Infiniti when the light turned green and the car ahead didn’t move. The father honked.
According to the police report, the driver put his car in park, opened his door, stuck out his hand and made an obscene gesture. He got back in and began to drive away. Seconds later, police say, he fired a round out his window and sped off.
The father and son never saw the shooter’s face, but they captured cellphone video of the license plate. Officers used Flock cameras to track the car to a Lawrenceville apartment complex and identified the driver as 33-year-old Alfredo Cabral Maria.
Investigators got a search warrant for the Infiniti.
“During that search warrant, they located a firearm and a spent shell casing in the trunk,” Cpl. Ryan Winderweedle said.
When officers questioned him, Cabral Maria first denied any interaction with another driver that night, the report says. He then admitted he had a gun in the car but insisted he never fired it.
Then, according to the report, he laid out a hypothetical to officers. What if someone was having a bad day, he asked, and their car broke down in the road, and the driver behind them honked and made them mad?
“What if that caused them to make a mistake and fire their gun?” he asked, according to the report.
Police got warrants for Cabral Maria days after the shooting and arrested him Wednesday. He’s charged with aggravated assault and cruelty to children, and a judge denied him bond, calling him a danger to the community.
“Firing a gun in the roadway is extremely dangerous,” Winderweedle said.
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