Bus driver fired after shootout in Charlotte.

 

Screengrab from the shootout. New York Post. 

A bus driver was fired after a shootout with a passenger in Charlotte North Carolina. New York Post. Omarri Shariff, 20, got into an argument with driver David Fullard because Shariff wanted to be let off between stops. Shariff said he was going to "pop your ass" to Fullard and pulled out a handgun. Fullard pulled his own handgun out and fired at Shariff and followed him outside, shooting several more times. Both Fullard and Shariff were wounded in the shootout. Shariff was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, making threats and illegally carrying a concealed weapon. As of this writing Fullard has not been charged but has been let go from his job for carrying a concealed weapon. Fullard's attorney said that many drivers for the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) are afraid of being assulted on the busses with several being assaulted, shot at and at least one being killed.

My Comment:

Continuing yesterday's theme of people doing the right thing and then being punished by their company for it, Fullard is getting punished for saving his own life. It seems very clear that Shariff was willing and able to kill Fullard and shooting at him saved Fullard's life. 

Was it a justified shooting? It seems obvious that the initial exchange where both parties were shooting through the glass was fine. Plus the shots as Shariff was fleeing the bus seem justified as well. But the last shot after Shariff had fled and both parties were outside? If Fullard gets into legal trouble that might be the sticking point. I'm not an expert on North Carolina gun laws so I am not sure if the shooting was good or not. 

Regardless, Fullard has yet to be charged and CATS fired him before anything happened. I personally think that is disgusting. Sure, it was against their regulations for him to carry but those regulations are a joke and this shooting is a major reason why. Would Fullard even be alive if he hadn't been armed? Given that he was already wounded in the shootout it's very possible. The plexiglass between him and the shooter offered some protection but regardless, he could have been wounded worse than he was or even killed. 

I also don't buy the argument that Fullard should have just let Shariff off the bus. It barely looked like Fullard had time to do so regardless before Shariff pulled his gun. And it's not clear at all that Shariff would not have opened fire if he had been let off the bus early. He went to zero to 100 very quickly so it's possible that anything other than immediate compliance would have allowed Fullard to avoid this shooting. 

Hell, the only argument that I could see for firing Fullard is the fact that he crashed the bus and even that is understandable under the circumstances. It's pretty hard to stay on the road while engaged in a shootout and it's still impressive that Fullard only went up onto the sidewalk and not crashing into a building or something. 

Regardless, the real problem is that crime is so out of control that people are getting into shootouts in buses in the first place. When crime is this out of control is it any wonder why a bus driver would be carrying a gun? I doubt that this was Shariff's first encounter with criminal behavior so why was he out and about? And why was he so emboldened that he thought he could murder a bus driver because he had the temerity to not let him off the busy early? Until those questions are answered we will probably see more bus drivers getting attacked like this?