INDIANAPOLIS — Johnathan Maina is thankful to be alive.
On Thursday, he was driving on Interstate 70 in Indianapolis, near Keystone Avenue, around 8:30 p.m. when he says he was the victim of road rage.
"The car just cuts like right in front of me, like almost hits my vehicle," Maina said. "So then I'm a little irritated and I get into the fast lane, legally. I shouldn't have probably, but I went back in front of them. That's when they peeled back into the fast lane, went in front of me and then that's when the pistol came out."
Maina said he could've died that night.
"And it wasn't one shot," Maina said. "It wasn't two shots. It was probably like three or four shots at least."
Sadly, road rage incidents can turn deadly.
Just last week, police arrested a man for shooting and killing another driver on Interstate 70, near Post Road.
The victim was driven from the scene of the shooting to a medical facility in Hancock County.
Police say that case was the 37th interstate shooting that troopers and detectives from the Indianapolis district have investigated so far this year.
"Unless your life is in danger and it's a certain type of situation, there's no reason to even bring out a gun," Maina said.
Police found the suspect's vehicle broken down with mechanical issues on the side of Interstate 65, near Meridian Street.
Maina said he learned how to maneuver away from the shooter by watching movies.
"You know how they have Q&As and go over it [scenes] with professionals? So, I know moving objects are a lot harder to hit. It kind of went through my mind like, 'I'm a moving object. Maybe that lessens the difficulty of getting hit. And then, there's the wind speed.' So in my mind, I didn't think they were actually going to like hit me, and I had a little bit of protection because I'm in a vehicle," Maina said.
Maina managed to get the license plate and dial 911. He said he can only hope drivers learn how to control their aggression when behind the wheel.
"Do you really have that much hatred toward someone that just cut you off?" Maina said.
IMPD said three women and two handguns were found inside the vehicle.
Maya WIlliams, 20, a passenger in the car, was taken into custody for the shooting.