Austin Weir (photo, left), 38, of Westfield, Indiana, should be an old man before he drives a car again.
When the cops caught him, he “started acting ‘very fidgety’ and ‘was moving his hands around.’ A police officer pulled his gun and ordered Weir repeatedly to put his hands up before he finally did. Police did a patdown and found a 9mm handgun in Weir’s waistband,” a local TV station reported (here).
Police say Weir then told them “he had the gun to protect his family” and that “he was attacked today by two subjects carrying weed eaters, and he had to fight them off.”
The “subjects” who “attacked” him were two city street maintenance workers. Weir was driving fast and the Hispanic worker motioned for him to slow down. Weir yelled at him to “get the f*** out of my way,” then got out of his vehicle, exchanged words, then retrieved a handgun from his vehicle, chased the worker, and pistol-whipped him in the head.
Then Weir allegedly stood over the worker, pointed the gun at him, and pulled the trigger twice. Instead of going off, the magazine and a bullet fell out.
Weir is charged with attempted murder, battery by means of a deadly weapon, battery resulting in bodily injury, and pointing a firearm. He’s entitled to a presumption of innocence until found guilty by a court. If he’s convicted, 15 years behind bars sounds about right. If he can also be prosecuted for a federal hate crime, another 10 years on top of that, to be served consecutively, sounds about right.
Kill somebody because they asked him to slow down? A public worker he’s endangering, who’s just trying to do his job? That’s sick beyond words, but more to the point, someone with a flash temper like that not only shouldn’t be driving around armed, but shouldn’t be in society at all.