AKRON, Ohio – Akron police decided to charge a 39-year-old man in a road rage incident in Akron despite claims of self-defense due to additional testimony and evidence.

News 5 has new information about a road rage incident in the area of ​​South Arlington and East Market Street that turned violent.

This comes after Akron Police Capt. Michael Miller released 911 calls, including those from the 39-year-old man involved.

“A guy crashed my car. He was in the bike lane and I didn’t let him go into my lane. “He hit my car and when I yelled at him, he pointed a gun at me and I shot him,” the 39-year-old suspect said.

Originally, Capt. Michael Miller said they included the 39-year-old driver and the 78-year-old man, who suffered a gunshot wound to the face, as victims and suspects.

But Miller said things changed after he said officers examined the 39-year-old man’s claim of self-defense and then compared it to what witnesses said with additional physical and digital evidence and decided to charge him with felonious assault.

“We were detained, I cursed at him and told him to stop and he pointed a gun at me,” the 39-year-old suspect said.

“They just didn’t believe, the detectives as a collective, that the explanation or the self-defense component really had any merit,” Miller said.

According to preliminary reports, a minor accident involving two vehicles occurred on East Market Street when police said the victim’s vehicle sideswiped the other vehicle, leaving minor damage.

Authorities said the 39-year-old driver of the other vehicle allegedly fired multiple shots, one of which hit the victim, and 911 callers assisted until crews arrived.

“Right now he has a pink cloth around his face,” a 911 caller said.

After the shooting, police said the 39-year-old man left the scene.

That’s when the man finally called emergency services and officers located him and took him into custody without further incident.

“We do not believe the victim did anything to cause or cause the circumstance to happen to him. “This really depends solely on the individual deciding to escalate something that was initially just a minor accident and choosing to use a firearm,” Miller said.

Miller said the 39-year-old man’s perspective is not for his department to determine at this time beyond the initial investigation.

As for the 78-year-old man, Miller said he is expected to survive.