Man says bullet hit his car hours before suspected road rage shooting on Route 309
WHITEMARSH TWP. (FOX 29) - A man says a bullet hit his work truck on Wednesday evening while he was driving on the turnpike, hours before state police say a 63-year-old man was shot while driving on Route 309.
READ MORE: Man, 63, injured in suspected road rage shooting on Route 309
Eastern Patrol Section Commander for Pennsylvania State Police's Highspire Barrack, Lieutenant Stephen U'Selis, says they are conducting an active criminal investigation of the possible shooting, in conjunction with Troop K, the Belmont Barrack, who is investigating the shooting involving the 63-year-old.
A police spokeswoman says at this point, they do not believe the shootings are connected.
The victim driving the work truck says the possible shooting happened around 6:30 p.m., about a mile away from the Fort Washington interchange.
"I hear a loud gunshot, boom, and I just swerved to the right," says Charles Hayward, an installer for Marble Concepts in Feasterville and father of five.
He says he was supposed to be home at that point, but had to pick up a last minute job.
"I was ducking down because I heard a shot and I didn't know where it came from, and that scared me a lot, because someone's shooting and I don't know where it's coming from," he says.
Hayward says the bullet hit his GPS so hard, the GPS disconnected and crashed through the the back windshield.
Looking at the bullet hole in his front windshield, he believes it only missed him by about an inch.
"I'm just thanking God, God is great, it wasn't my time to go," he says.
Hours later, around 9:30 p.m., an older, box style sedan, pulled up on the passenger side of a victim's pickup truck and opened fire, striking the 63-year-old victim in his upper right arm, according to state police.
It happened on State Route 309 northbound in Whitemarsh Township.
The victim told police that the incident may have been motivated after he changed lanes from left to the right so that he could exit onto the turnpike.
He was treated and released from the hospital.
Hayward says he's praying for the victim in the second shooting and his family.
Meanwhile, he's holding his family a little closer.
"When your loved one goes out that door, make sure you kiss them and hug them, and make sure the little stuff that you're arguing with your loved ones about, throw it to the side," he says. "I could've lost my life and my 2-year-old daughter would have not remembered me."