A North Carolina doctor opened fire on a Jeep, shooting a 12-year-old girl and her older sister during a road rage incident along a Virginia highway, according to police.
Richard T. Arriviello, of Charlotte, is charged with malicious shooting into an occupied vehicle, shooting from a vehicle, maliciously causing bodily harm to another with intent to maim, and use of a firearm while committing a felony, Virginia State Police said in a news release provided to Us on Tuesday, August 25.
The incident took place on the morning of Saturday, August 22, at which point Arriviello, 61, allegedly took aim at a moving Jeep from a Mercedes-Benz while on Interstate 77, according to police.
A girl and her 20-year-old sister were inside the Jeep and struck by the gunfire in their legs, resulting in “non-life-threatening injuries,” police said. They were both air-lifted to a nearby hospital.
Arriviello continued driving along the interstate until authorities stopped him at Exit 19, located in Carroll County, according to police.
He was then arrested in connection with the shooting, police said.
North Carolina Medical Board records viewed by WBTV showed Arriviello is licensed to practice medicine and owns an urgent care center, Family Urgent Care, in Monroe, North Carolina, which is about a 25-mile drive southeast from Charlotte.
He is described as the center’s medical director in a YouTube video shared by the business.
Arriviello specializes in emergency medicine and has worked as a doctor for over 20 years, according to U.S. News & World Report.
In addition to the charges against Arriviello, the driver of the Jeep was charged with reckless driving, according to authorities, WBTV reported. Police did not identify the Jeep driver in the news release.
Virginia State Police continue to investigate the Saturday road rage incident.
Following his arrest, Arriviello has been detained at the New River Valley Regional Jail in Carroll County, records show.
It was not immediately clear whether he had retained legal counsel or entered a plea.
In April 2024, nonprofit news organization The Trace reported that road rage related shootings had been increasing in the U.S., based on an analysis of Gun Violence Archive data. The organization found that between 2014 and 2023, nearly 4,000 people were shot in connection with alleged road rage incidents. Out of those individuals, 777 people died, according to The Trace.
While speaking with The Trace in 2022, Ohio State University communications professor said “Although guns don’t directly cause violence, they dramatically increase the likelihood that any situation involving conflict will be lethal.”
