Man fatally shot during altercation at Tesla charging station

[kizamybute']

With road rage being what it is in today's world, I've learned, it's not worth engaging, regardless of who's right or wrong. Nothing is worth giving up your life over. Sad to hear this happened. Clearly an unnecessary death over what? Who gets the next charger?

Too many people out there that don't know how to control their temper. Many of them want to act like barbarians and get into a fight over it. For those that can't control their tempers that also carry a gun, then the results can be a lot worse, as appears to be the case here.

We hear about road rage incidents where someone pulls a gun and shoots because someone cut them off or honked at them or argued over a parking space during Black Friday shopping rush, or whatever other unjustifiable reason. The best way to avoid such situations is to not engage. Your life isn't worth sacrificing just because you were right and they were wrong.

If you want to do something, take down the plate number discreetly and report it. But otherwise, it's a small event in the grand scheme of things that we should just let go and move on from rather than engage and risk the worst possible outcome.

Of course, we don't know the details of exactly what happened in this instance. But, fairly simple to decipher...disagreement, argument, gun, someone dead. If there was no argument, the last two events are unlikely to happen. An argument takes two. If you don't know who you're arguing with, simply not worth the risk as we simply don't know how some people will respond.

Be safe out there!

 

[whitex]

It used to be a fight might happen in an altercation. Maybe someone would get a black eye or a headache. Now someone dies.

Where one of my relatives grew up, teenagers in high schools would keep rifles in their pickup trucks, parked in the school parking lot, They used them for hunting after school - nobody freaked out about it. Yet you didn't hear of shootings by teenagers as you do today. It was a few decades ago. It seems today there is less access to guns (same high school would not allow students with guns today), yet we hear more of gun violence. Perhaps it's the speed of light news that creates this impression, or it could be that the two are unrelated, simply more people on edge nowadays willing to kill others - if they didn't have guns, they'd use knives, cars, baseball bats, or their bare hands. The world seems really divided nowadays, with politicians stoking the fire every chance they get. Most people don't have rational discussions anymore.

As for supercharger rage, I would not surprised, Road rage shootings have been a thing lately - there was a guy shot dead after cutting of another car last year near where I live. If people are willing to shoot each other over a being cut off in traffic, or over a parking spot at the mall, shooting over EV charging is bound to happen eventually. The fact that it's a Tesla is just statistically more probable, as there are more Tesla EV's than any other manufacturer on the US roads today.

 

[whitex]

Good reminder to stay vigilant and strapped when at a Supercharger.

Remember that even in California, concealed carry is legal with a permit.

Have California superchargers gotten this bad? Is that why Elon was selling the concept a bulletproof Cybertruck?

 

[White Shadow]

A little sideways logic here, but I've always thought that supercharger locations are a perfect opportunity for criminals to exploit victims. Think about it.....pull in to charge at an otherwise empty charging location and there's not many people around. The car is attached to the charger via the charging cable and it' can't be driven away until the cable is removed. So if you're in your vehicle and someone with a weapon and bad intentions approaches you, well, you're basically a sitting duck. To me, that's a recipe for disaster.

I'm not saying that's what happened here, I'm just saying that supercharging can be risky because you don't have a good way to escape from a transitional space. FWIW, gas stations are also popular targets for criminals. But the difference there is that you're typically at a gas station for a fraction of the time and you can always drive off even with a fuel nozzle stuck in your car.

 

[WVhybrid]

Any more news about the murder at this Supercharger? I saw a note that the local police now don't think this dispute was over a charging stall.

 

[cmarshack]

A little sideways logic here, but I've always thought that supercharger locations are a perfect opportunity for criminals to exploit victims. Think about it.....pull in to charge at an otherwise empty charging location and there's not many people around. The car is attached to the charger via the charging cable and it' can't be driven away until the cable is removed. So if you're in your vehicle and someone with a weapon and bad intentions approaches you, well, you're basically a sitting duck. To me, that's a recipe for disaster.

I'm not saying that's what happened here, I'm just saying that supercharging can be risky because you don't have a good way to escape from a transitional space. FWIW, gas stations are also popular targets for criminals. But the difference there is that you're typically at a gas station for a fraction of the time and you can always drive off even with a fuel nozzle stuck in your car.

This is why I always carry when on road trips. Some Superchargers are in sketchy areas (Think Mojave Ca) and you never know if you might find yourself in proximity to a desperate person with nothing to lose. I will add that I also think anyone who carries a firearm should also carry OC spray. You may only need something in between a harsh word and a gun, which should always be the last resort and only when threatened with death or great bodily harm.

As for the OP's story, it's just sad. We know nothing about the altercation, so I will hold all judgments, but a charging station spat should not lead to someone getting shot.

 

[rhumbliner]

Some Superchargers are in sketchy areas (Think Mohave Ca)

Mojave, CA? I admit I’ve never been there at night but in the daytime I don’t see anything sketchy about that area.

 

[cmarshack]

Mojave, CA? I admit I’ve never been there at night but in the daytime I don’t see anything sketchy about that area.

Coffee had not hit yet, so thanks for the spelling correction.

I'm glad you did not find Mojave sketchy, I do. I challenge you to walk around the Supercharger after 9:00pm and let me know if you feel comfortable.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

This is why I always carry when on road trips. Some Superchargers are in sketchy areas (Think Mojave Ca) and you never know if you might find yourself in proximity to a desperate person with nothing to lose. I will add that I also think anyone who carries a firearm should also carry OC spray. You may only need something in between a harsh word and a gun, which should always be the last resort and only when threatened with death or great bodily harm.

As for the OP's story, it's just sad. We know nothing about the altercation, so I will hold all judgments, but a charging station spat should not lead to someone getting shot.

One news station did report that the shooter used pepper spray before firing at the victim twice. One bullet hit the victim. I don't think his name has been released yet.

We don't know for certain yet if the victim's car was the older Silver Model S or one of the many other vehicles charging at the time. From the news footage, it looks like at least four or five of the six cars charging were rentals.

I don't know if it is an issue at this Supercharger since it just opened a couple months ago but at least a couple other Superchargers close to the airport are constantly clogged with Hertz rentals. When we sold a Model 3 a couple months back, we met the buyer at the Denver, CO Supercharger on Airport Way, There were at least 5 Hertz employees moving Tesla rentals around and using 80% (8 out of 10) of the available Supercharger stalls. There were multiple rental Model 3s seemingly abandoned in the narrow parking lot, double parked, etc. and there was a line of empty Model 3s waiting to be charged and blocking other cars in their parking spots. I've seen reports that Hertz employees are clogging the Supercharger up in Brighton as well. Hertz will have their own private Supercharger eventually. Hopefully that will ease up the congestion at the airport locations and wasn't a factor in the incident at this location. Edgewater is nowhere near the airport but had a high percentage of rentals charging when the shooting took place.

 

[Genie]

Where one of my relatives grew up, teenagers in high schools would keep rifles in their pickup trucks, parked in the school parking lot, They used them for hunting after school - nobody freaked out about it. Yet you didn't hear of shootings by teenagers as you do today. It was a few decades ago. It seems today there is less access to guns (same high school would not allow students with guns today), yet we hear more of gun violence. Perhaps it's the speed of light news that creates this impression, or it could be that the two are unrelated, simply more people on edge nowadays willing to kill others - if they didn't have guns, they'd use knives, cars, baseball bats, or their bare hands. The world seems really divided nowadays, with politicians stoking the fire every chance they get. Most people don't have rational discussions anymore.

As for supercharger rage, I would not surprised, Road rage shootings have been a thing lately - there was a guy shot dead after cutting of another car last year near where I live. If people are willing to shoot each other over a being cut off in traffic, or over a parking spot at the mall, shooting over EV charging is bound to happen eventually. The fact that it's a Tesla is just statistically more probable, as there are more Tesla EV's than any other manufacturer on the US roads today.

I went to one of those schools In the 70s. Far more pickup gun racks than hunters, the rifle in the window was showing off, every time. I don’t remember any incidents but I can’t say they didn’t happen. Different times now but people still make up reasons to carry.
Maybe when people remember how many cameras are watching they will learn some self control.

 

[ucmndd]

Dare to post about guns, they said.

It will be fun, they said.

 

[whitex]

A little sideways logic here, but I've always thought that supercharger locations are a perfect opportunity for criminals to exploit victims. Think about it.....pull in to charge at an otherwise empty charging location and there's not many people around. The car is attached to the charger via the charging cable and it' can't be driven away until the cable is removed. So if you're in your vehicle and someone with a weapon and bad intentions approaches you, well, you're basically a sitting duck. To me, that's a recipe for disaster.

I'm not saying that's what happened here, I'm just saying that supercharging can be risky because you don't have a good way to escape from a transitional space. FWIW, gas stations are also popular targets for criminals. But the difference there is that you're typically at a gas station for a fraction of the time and you can always drive off even with a fuel nozzle stuck in your car.

Playing devil's advocate. With a gas station you are manning the hose, so not able to drive off. If you choose to stand and hold the EV plug while charging, you can drive off in about the same amount of time. Also, the longer the stay, the more likely there will be other cars fueling up there at the same time. So if you are a criminal looking to jump someone while refueling, it seems gas station is a better target - victims are already outside of the car, there less likely to be other cars around.

 

[Bouba]

The thing I fear the most at charging stations is one day kids will start asking you ‘do ya want me to look after your car, mister?’

 

[drtimhill]

...or it could be a justified self defense shooting and the law abiding citizen reported the situation once they felt safe. Let's not rush to judgement in a complete vacuum of evidence or facts. Not everyone with a firearm is a bad guy regardless of Hollywood indoctrination. My thoughts go out to parties & families involved.

Agreed, but skip the "Hollywood indoctrination", which dilutes your position by suggesting an agenda that is hardly necessary in this (or any other) tragedy.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Agreed, but skip the "Hollywood indoctrination", which dilutes your position by suggesting an agenda that is hardly necessary in this (or any other) tragedy.

The 2nd post of this thread was already starting to insinuate the shooter was a criminal. My statement was a attempt to recenter everyone before one side took over the conversation in complete lack of facts or info. Like it or not, Hollywood has some a flawless job of making the general populace assume everyone with a gun is a criminal so that's many people's knee-jerk reaction.

 

[ucmndd]

The 2nd post of this thread was already starting to insinuate the shooter was a criminal. My statement was a attempt to recenter everyone before one side took over the conversation in complete lack of facts or info. Like it or not, Hollywood has some a flawless job of making the general populace assume everyone with a gun is a criminal so that's many people's knee-jerk reaction.

“Hollywood” has glorified guns and the associated violence they bring for a hundred years. This masturbatory “self-defense” fantasy world we live in where we have to be strapped at all times because we’re abjectly terrified of Bad Guys(tm) was created by them. Now we’re blaming them for creating a false narrative in the opposite direction? Come on. You don’t actually believe this.

“Criminal” or not by the standard of our 18th century gun laws, this individual killed someone over a parking space. It’s hard to summon the words to express how insane it is to think that’s a normal response to any sort of altercation or a normal sort of society to live in. To collectively shrug at the fact that gun violence is the #1 cause of death of people under 20 in this country and say “meh that’s ok, what if I need to kill someone who takes my parking spot” is sociopathic.

Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe y’all. I’m here all night!

 

[Bouba]

Did he take someone’s space...or worse, park next to someone and split the charge?

 

[Bouba]

The 2nd post of this thread was already starting to insinuate the shooter was a criminal. My statement was a attempt to recenter everyone before one side took over the conversation in complete lack of facts or info. Like it or not, Hollywood has some a flawless job of making the general populace assume everyone with a gun is a criminal so that's many people's knee-jerk reaction.

Even if it was self defense...at the very least Tesla should revoke his super charging privilege

 

[SmokyPeat]

I very much doubt that his self defense defense will prevent him from serving many years in prison. I'd also wager that he won't fare well at all in lockup.

 

[whitex]

“Hollywood” has glorified guns and the associated violence they bring for a hundred years. This masturbatory “self-defense” fantasy world we live in where we have to be strapped at all times because we’re abjectly terrified of Bad Guys(tm) was created by them. Now we’re blaming them for creating a false narrative in the opposite direction? Come on. You don’t actually believe this.

“Criminal” or not by the standard of our 18th century gun laws, this individual killed someone over a parking space. It’s hard to summon the words to express how insane it is to think that’s a normal response to any sort of altercation or a normal sort of society to live in. To collectively shrug at the fact that gun violence is the #1 cause of death of people under 20 in this country and say “meh that’s ok, what if I need to kill someone who takes my parking spot” is sociopathic.

Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe y’all. I’m here all night!

If Hollywood movies taught me one thing, is that "finish the job, disable the threat to your life" is the safest defense strategy. If someone tries to kill you, and you manage to get an upper hand, don't just run for your life, as they will probably chase you and threaten your life again. Sorry, I will avoid a fight where possible, but if anyone threatens my life with a weapon, to me it instantly becomes a "kill or be killed" situation. I am not trained in non-lethal disarmament of opponents, so am not going to risk my life trying it. My sincere hope is that I will never be in such a situation where someone threatens my life, since the outcome likely means someone is going to the morgue, and it could be me.