Two CCW Holders Shoot Each Other in Road Rage

Two men are dead after a road rage incident involving two CCW permit holders, even after one of the men attempted to apologize for the altercation.

Davie Police say, 41-year-old Keith Byrne, a veteran of the Marine Corps, was reportedly driving his air conditioning work truck, when he cut off a driver of a BMW. Byrne, who was on the phone with a friend at the time, tried to apologize for his driving.

According to Davie Police Department (DPD) Sergeant Mark Leon in a news conference on Wednesday, Byrne’s friend told officers he listened to the veteran say he was going to apologize to the driver of the BMW when it pulled up next to him at a stop light.

Byrne’s friend told police he,

“… heard his friend Keith (Byrne) say, ‘My bad,’ in making an attempt to apologize,” Leone said. “At that time over the phone he heard the gunshots and Mr. Byrne said, ‘I think I’ve been shot,’ started slurring his speech, and then the phone call was disconnected.”

DPD officers investigating the shooting learned 22-year-old Andre Sinclair, who was also in possession of a valid CCW permit, was the passenger of the BMW Byrne cut off in traffic.

Sinclair’s girlfriend, who was driving the BMW at the time with their 19-month-old child in the the back seat during the altercation, told police she’d begged him not to get out of the car to confront Byrne.

Instead, Sinclair ignored her. He got out of the car at the stop light and shot Byrne in the chest. Byrne, who also had a CCW permit, pulled his gun and returned fire with two shots, hitting Sinclair both times.

Byrne was discovered dead in his truck by responding DPD officers, while Sinclair was transported to the hospital where he died two days later.

“Mr. Byrne was acting in self-defense when he ultimately fired back at Mr. Sinclair,” Leone said. “… (had Sinclair survived) we would have identified him as the primary aggressor, and he would have ultimately been charged with murder.”

The DPD Sergeant went on to call the altercation, “ … pointless and silly.” And went on to say:

“Road rage can happen anywhere at any time,” Leone said. “Out there on the roads, we must share the roads with everybody. Everybody is trying to get somewhere, school, work, home. … Everybody is in a rush to get somewhere. But when we start letting our tempers get involved, bad things happen.”

Fortunately, Sinclair’s young daughter and his girlfriend were not injured in the shooting.

A friend of Byrne’s described him in an interview as a,

“… person that made everyone feel good when he was around them. When he loved you as a friend, he always had your back, and it was for life.”

The veteran’s son, Justyn, said the whole situation didn’t feel real at first when he learned his father had been killed:

“Driving there, I didn’t want to believe it. I figured I would get there and he would be: ‘Oh, there’s a misunderstanding.’ He would be there and clear things up for me. But that’s not how things worked out for us.”

This situation represents both the right and wrong way to approach an altercation while in the possession of a firearm for self-defense.

Sinclair let his anger get the better of him and misused his right to carry a firearm for defense when he attacked Byrne.

Byrne, however, attempted to smooth things over and avoid a fight after he wronged someone else.

This shooting also shows how important it is in learning how to fight around vehicles. A large portion of violent crimes take place either inside, or near cars and knowing how to properly use one to win a fight is important.

Click here for the Vehicle Firearm Tactics Course – Online & DVD.

What lessons do you think could be learned from this self-defense shooting? Leave a comment below to let me know.