CHARLOTTE — Dominique Johnson, 18, is facing charges after police said he pointed an AR-style rifle at a car occupied by a woman and her one-year-old child in the parking lot of a north Charlotte gun shop.
Surveillance video shows Johnson pointing the rifle at a white car on Saturday. The gun shop is feet away from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s North Division building.
The woman’s husband was working at Watchdog Tactical on Harris Oaks Boulevard.
He told Channel 9 that his wife was picking him up from work but when she pulled into the parking lot, she was met with the end of a gun barrel.
“That’s the most terrifying she could have felt,” said Alex Wehner.
He’s grateful they were able to peel out unharmed.
“When someone threatens my family and loved ones, that’s when it really gets to me,” Wehner said.
Johnson bought ammo inside before the incident, Wehner said.
“We can see he’s doing something weird out there,” he said.
Johnson walked to a suspected Uber and as Wehner’s wife pulled into the parking lot, the suspect pulled out the gun and pointed it at her car, which stopped before she sped off.
Johnson then got in the car waiting for him, which started to drive off.
Seconds later, Wehner came out of the gun shop armed with a gun for protection.
“The Uber driver is screaming at him. I’m yelling at him at this point, then they both speed off,” Wehner said.
The police arrested Johnson with the help of the surveillance video. He was also wearing an electronic ankle monitor, which pinged him to the scene of the crime.
Earlier this year, Johnson was arrested after police said he shot at a car with five people inside, including three children. Nobody was hurt.
Johnson was charged with five counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. He managed to bond out of jail, and Wehner couldn’t understand how that was possible.
“The fact that somebody that attempted to kill five people was allowed back out,” Wehner said. “I mean it blows your mind. It makes you question if any of us are safe in this city right now.”
In that previous case, Judge Fritz Mercer set Johnson’s bond at $60,000.
Mercer was on the bench again in Johnson’s latest case and this time, the judge set his bond at just $2,500.
Channel 9 reached out to Mercer’s office to ask why he continues to give low bonds to Johnson. We haven’t heard back.
Johnson was still in jail Wednesday afternoon.
Channel 9 also tried to get in contact with somebody from CMPD and Uber to see if the Uber driver was involved and if they are OK.
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