CHARLOTTE — Two innocent people were shot on Interstate 485 last month, all because the alleged shooter got an upsetting phone call. That’s according to new court documents obtained by Channel 9.
The shooting happened on Jan. 8 while the victims were driving on I-485. The suspect in this case, Anil Dabydeen, is now being federally charged for possessing a gun while being a convicted felon.
According to new federal court documents, the victims were in the same car when they were shot. One was hit in her left elbow, the other was shot in the wrist. They told police they didn’t believe the incident was caused by road rage because they noted that “nothing unusual happened” before the shooting.
Police said that as they were looking for evidence at the scene, Dabydeen erratically drove by again. State troopers chased him for seven miles into the Burwood community, where his car came to a stop and he was arrested.
According to a federal warrant, Dabydeen told officers he had “received a phone call that upset him” and he “did fire his firearm but was not aware that he hit anyone.”
A task force officer with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told the magistrate that Dabydeen is a convicted felon who served time for first-degree manslaughter from a case in 2008. Records show he was pardoned, but he still should have never had a gun.
Police investigators said the gun Dabydeen allegedly used in this shooting was stolen out of a car in Huntersville about a year ago. But court records say Dabydeen told officers he bought the gun “off the street.”
Dabydeen is due back in court on Tuesday.
(VIDEO >> CMPD: Man in custody after double shooting along I-485)
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