Fayetteville driver opens fire on car he believed was following him home, investigators say

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. - A man surrendered to authorities and told them that he had shot at someone whom he believed was following him through a Fayetteville neighborhood on Monday evening. The sheriff tells FOX 5 the victim was just returning home from McDonald’s.

The 41-year-old victim had gone to McDonald’s for a bite to eat. Sheriff Barry Babb says he unfortunately was right behind another car driven by 25-year-old Joshua Carbin.

Joshua Carbin (Fayette County Sheriff's Office)

The sheriff said Carbin’s car pulled out. The victim's car pulled out. Carbin’s car made a turn. Then the victim’s car made the same turn. And on and on it went until they both pulled into the victim’s neighborhood and Carbon pulled over and got out and opened fire on the victim's car because he thought he was being followed. The sheriff says the victim was not following Carbin at all. They lived in the same area, and they were coincidentally just going the same direction.

Officers were first alerted to the shooting around 7:20 p.m. when a driver tried to take himself to Piedmont Fayette Hospital. According to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, the driver told detectives that he was shot by another driver while attempting to enter the victim's neighborhood. Investigators found nine 9mm shell casings at the scene along Stanley Road near Westside Way.

(Fayette County Sheriff’s Office)

The victim, who did not know the shooter, described the incident as "the result of an irrational driver." He explained he was driving home when a vehicle in front of him pulled over, and the driver began shooting at him.

Later that evening, Carbin, accompanied by his father, turned himself in to the authorities, stating he believed he had shot someone who was following him. Carbin was taken into custody at the Fayette County Jail and faces charges of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.