Removing Oneself From The Gene Pool: Virginia Man Shoots Himself In Groin After Allegedly Jumping Out Of Car To Threaten People Asking Him To Slow Down

It is hard not to see this as a crime with a happy ending. Witnesses say that Rhonney Jacobs, 43, was speeding through a neighborhood in Norfolk when bystanders yelled for him to slow down out of concern for children on the street. Jacobs allegedly made a U-turn and jumped out with a gun to confronted those asking him to slow down. However, when he pulled out the gun, it apparently misfired — wounding him into his groin.

Jacobs shot himself with a .45-caliber gun in front of children playing on the street.

Jacobs was charged with discharging a firearm and brandishing a firearm.

While this injury may not keep Jacobs out of the gene pool, perhaps his car insurance company will balk on keeping him on the road. I am not sure why the police did not add charges related to reckless driving and road rage.

Fairfax just arrested a man in May for a road rage incident where the driver followed another driver into a parking lot and assaulted him. The victim died later at home. As in the Jacobs case, the attack occurred outside of their cars and on a public street. Virginia DMV warns of aggressive driving as a crime in the state: “Aggressive driving is driving behavior that endangers or is likely to endanger people or property. However, road rage is a criminal offense that occurs when a traffic incident escalates into a far more serious situation. For example, a person may become so angry over an aggressive driving incident that he or she overreacts and retaliates with some type of violence.”

Likewise, one report has Jacobs struggling with another man before shooting himself in the leg. It is not clear why assault and battery is not also charged if that is true.