A US Air Force sergeant caught in chilling footage pointing a gun at a terrified 19-year-old motorist in a wild road rage incident.
Charles Bass, 40, was arrested after allegedly being seen in shocking footage filmed by Shi’Anna Bamba, 19, berating the young woman for her driving before asking: ‘Do you want to f****** die?’
Bamba told ABC15 the chilling moment on December 5 came after she was accused of cutting off a truck, which she denies, and she rolled up to a stop light alongside Bass.
The Arizona teen said she started recording as they stopped next to each other out of fear, with part of the recording showing Bass raise the gun and aim it directly at the 19-year-old.
The shocking footage saw the furious road rage driver pointing his gun at the Arizona teenager and asking her: ‘Do you want to f****** die?’
Shi’Anna Bamba, 19, said she was left terrified by the incident, and said ‘there’s nothing I could say out of my mouth that could threaten you that much to have a finger on the trigger’
Bamba said when she was first confronted by the Air Force veteran, she didn’t realize the danger she was in.
‘The first time he pulled it up, it didn’t really hit me,’ she said.
She said she had just dropped her siblings off at school when she tried to change lanes. Court records reportedly say she cut off a truck, but Bamba claims she ‘didn’t even attempt to switch lanes yet.’
After the near-miss, Bamba said she saw another driver gesture at her as he raced past her, and her heart sank as she saw she was pulling up along side him at the stop light.
‘Then I heard him say, ‘Did you want to die?’ Bamba said.
The teenager said she panicked at the sight of the weapon and called her mom as soon as she pulled away, still in a daze. Only moments later did she realize what had happened.
She said she then contacted police and showed them the video, and Bass was subsequently arrested on December 15.
He was reportedly taken into custody by the Surprise Police Department, US Marshals and the Air Force.
Charles Bass, 40, a US Air Force sergeant, was taken into custody on December 15 and faces charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon
Bamba said she is still shaken by the incident, and can’t understand what led the veteran to allegedly threaten to kill her over road rage.
‘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,’ she said.
Once in custody, Bass reportedly admitted to police he was involved in the road rage confrontation, but claimed the teenager was driving erratically.
He said he raised the gun in the heat of the moment ‘because of his PTSD and hypervigilance issues’, which he says alarmed him when he saw Bamba’s car window go down and he didn’t know what could happen.
When questioned why he still pointed the gun at her after seeing it was a 19-year-old woman, he reportedly answered that he ‘did not know why.’
Bass was booked in on multiple charges including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The US Air Force told ABC15 that the incident is under investigation, but declined to offer any statement.