Driver shoots motorist in dispute over gas station line in Chelyabinsk amid Russia's fuel crisis
In Chelyabinsk, a driver fired a rubber-bullet pistol at another motorist during an argument over a queue at a gas station. The victim was hospitalized, and the suspect was detained.
According to Russian news outlet 74.ru, a driver opened fire with a rubber-bullet pistol on another motorist at a Gazprom station on Lutsenko Street in Chelyabinsk on July 11. The dispute arose over line-cutting.
Witnesses reported that a Chelyabinsk resident tried to cut the line and was told to wait his turn. He then responded by opening fire. "The man was told to get in line like everyone else to fill up his car, but he decided he didn’t want to do that," a witness said. "And what if everyone reacted that way? We had children in the car — where could the bullet have gone? The victim got shot in the stomach, and there was quite a lot of blood."
The shooter fled the scene. Police tracked him down and detained him — a 26-year-old city resident. They are still searching for the rubber-bullet weapon he used.
Prosecutors have opened a criminal case on charges of battery under Article 116 of Russia’s Criminal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison. Currently, the suspect cannot be placed in pretrial detention because he is already serving an administrative penalty for public intoxication.
Enormous lines at Russian gas stations have formed amid a fuel crisis caused by Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil facilities. Arguments and fights — sometimes involving weapons — break out frequently in these queues.
