By Raul Castillo
May 2, 2024, 9:35 PM EDT
A Tennessee man faces aggravated assault charges after allegedly shooting seven times at a pizza delivery driver who had parked on the wrong road while making a delivery.
The incident occurred on North Poole Street in Ashland City, when Domino’s delivery driver Caiden Wheeler, 18, left the pizza at the correct house and returned to his truck. At that point, Ryan S. Babcock allegedly ran toward him and opened fire, with three of the bullets hitting Wheeler’s truck, he told Nashville CBS affiliate WTVF.
Wheeler described the incident as an attempted murder and stated that Babcock should face more serious charges. “So he was literally about to get me killed right there,” Wheeler told the outlet. “In my opinion, it is an attempted murder.”
Police recovered seven bullet casings at the scene, which were captured by a Ring camera, according to an arrest warrant obtained by Law&Crime.
Babcock claimed to police that he saw a truck in his driveway via his Ring camera and thought someone was trying to break into his vehicle. Therefore, he grabbed his 9 mm pistol and began shooting to disable the truck.
However, Wheeler was not marked or wearing a uniform, leading to questions about the justification for the shooting. The deliveryman expressed that, while he understands the need to protect himself, he does not believe that shooting automatically is the correct response in a situation like this.
“I think if you have reasonable cause, sometimes you have to do what you have to do, but in certain cases like this, I don’t think there is reasonable cause and therefore I don’t agree with it,” he said. Wheeler to WTVF.
Babcock has been released from jail and has a court date scheduled for June 12.
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