A Dallas driver is facing federal charges and recovering from injuries after investigators say he shot at an ATF agent "in an apparent fit of road rage" earlier this month.
According to the Department of Justice, 30-year-old Michael Fagan was charged on April 19 with assaulting or impeding a federal officer after an ATF agent said the man fired on him at least twice while stopped at a red light in East Dallas.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by NBC 5, federal investigators said the agent was stopped at a red light near the Dallas Arboretum at about 8 p.m. on April 6 when he saw a man in an SUV using the right turn lane to pass traffic stopped at the light and proceed through an intersection.
The agent reported seeing the driver run a second red light before he lost sight of him. At the intersection of Garland Road and Gaston Avenue, the agent caught up to the SUV driver and said he noticed the man appeared to be yelling and flailing his arms inside his vehicle.
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The document said when the agent rolled down his window to ask the driver if he was OK the man responded by opening his door and yelling incoherently at him. The agent ordered the man to get back into his vehicle. After the man returned to his vehicle, the agent said he saw the man lean over the passenger seat before turning back toward him while holding a pistol.
The agent yelled "no," or "don't," officials said, and he "ducked down below the dashboard" as he heard two shots. Federal investigators said the agent pulled out his weapon and fired three shots, striking the man at least once.
The man drove off and the agent followed long enough to get a license plate and description of the vehicle for police before stopping to make sure he'd not been injured in the gunfire. Fagan, investigators said, soon met up with his girlfriend who later called 911 to report her boyfriend had been shot in the chest and in the leg and that she was taking him to the hospital.
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In separate interviews, Fagan told both police at the hospital and federal investigators that he'd been drinking at a bar prior to the shooting and claimed he'd exchanged words with the driver of a Chevrolet Malibu who had been tailgating him and had fired at him at least once. In the interviews, Fagan told police at the hospital he had a gun but wasn't able to get to it in time while later telling federal investigators he did grab his gun but didn't fire more than one round in response. The DOJ, in their statement Tuesday, said surveillance footage from the area didn't show any vehicles that looked like the one Fagan described as following him.
Neither the officers who searched Fagan's vehicle at the hospital nor federal investigators who searched his vehicle reported finding a weapon.
Investigators said they also recovered five casings from the area, three of which were "consistent with the duty ammunition carried by the ATF agent and two consistent with another firearm."
"Mr. Fagan's behavior two weeks ago was allegedly violent and hostile; two adjectives that don't go well with firearm possession," said Jeffrey C. Boshek II, ATF Dallas Field Division Special Agent in Charge. "Luckily for the citizens of Dallas, that ATF Special Agent was able to put a stop to Mr. Fagan's alleged acts of violence."
It's not clear if Fagan has obtained an attorney or if he's posted a bond. If convicted, Fagan faces up to 20 years in federal prison.