Georgia family says road rage shooting was racially motivated

The family of a man shot multiple times at an intersection in Acworth, Georgia believe that the shooting was racially motivated.

Jason Daxon, a 25-year-old Grammy nominated songwriter and Georgia resident was driving in his car on June 30 when, according to Cherokee County sheriff’s deputies, a man named Wade McEwan pulled up next to Mr Daxon’s car and fired at least 14 shots through his driver’s side window.

Mr Daxon was hit twice, in the arm and the back, and has spent much of the last week in surgery. According to local television station WSB-TV 2, doctors believe that it will take Mr Daxon months to fully recover.

Local law enforcement and media initially framed the shooting as an incident of road rage. But alleged footage of the incident, shared on social media, has cast doubt on that framing.

Angeline Peterson, Mr Daxon’s fiancé, told WSB-TV 2 that the shooter’s behaviour does not back up the theory that they were simply acting in the heat of a road rage-inducing confrontation.

“The man just shot through his own window into Jason’s car,” Ms Peterson said. “He tried to kill him... It’s not like he was doing anything to antagonize this man, he was just simply trying to pass him on the road, and the man would not let him in.”

Mr McEwan has been charged with aggravated assault, reckless conduct and reckless driving, but not with more serious crimes like attempted murder.

Georgia was rocked by a racially motivated murder in February of 2020 when Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man like Mr Daxon, was killed by three white men while jogging near the town of Brunswick in the southeastern part of the state.

Mr Daxon, who had just signed with a record label in Atlanta and was preparing for promotional photo shoots and media appearances in the following days, has a young daughter with Ms Peterson. The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help offset Mr Daxon’s medical costs.