A US Air Force sergeant pointed a gun at a teenage girl and shouted “Do you want to f–ing die!” during a morning road rage confrontation caught on camera in Arizona earlier this month.
First Sgt. Charles Bass III, 40, was driving in Surprise, Arizona when he was cut off by 19-year-old Shi’Anna Bamba on Dec. 5, according to court records obtained by ABC 15.
Bamba had dropped her sibling off at a local school just before the heated confrontation.
The two then continued down the road alongside each other when they came upon a red light, where Bamba pulled out her phone and recorded the angry driver.
“Do you want to f–king die,” Bass can be heard shouting as he pointed a handgun in the teen’s direction, according to a video obtained by the outlet.
The shaken teen claimed Bass, a 21-year Air Force veteran, pointed the gun again at her before driving off.
Bamba says it took her a second to fully realize what happened before she called her mom in a panic.
“I called my mom right there after realizing that I could have died right there,” Bamba said.
Bamba, however, disagreed with the records and offered her side of the terrifying scene.
“I didn’t make (the lane switch),” Bamba told the outlet. “I didn’t even attempt to switch lanes yet.”
The teen then called the Surprise Police Department and showed the video to patrol officers.
Bamba’s father saw Bass’ truck a day later in the same area where the road rage incident and reported the license plate to the police, according to KPNX.
“There’s nothing I could say out of my mouth that could threaten you that much to have a finger on the trigger, and I was in the car by myself,” Bamba told ABC.
Bass turned himself in and confirmed his involvement with the incident.
Police said Bass was taken into custody on Dec. 12 by a team comprised of the US Marshals Task Force, US Air Force, and Surprise PD.
Bass blamed his “PTSD and hypervigilance issues” as reasons he pulled out his gun, explaining he saw Bamba’s driver window rolled down and was unaware of what she was doing, he told investigators following his arrest.
Bass said “he did not know why” he pulled his gun out a second time when he realized the driver was a young woman.
He was booked on multiple charges including Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Disorderly Conduct with a Weapon and Endangerment, according to court records.
In Arizona, a person facing class 3 felony charges for Aggravated Assault with a deadly weapon can face an average of 8.75 years in prison.