GREENSBORO, N.C. — In a case of fight or flight, Caroline Pennington chose flight - and to get as far away as she could, from man who pointed a gun at her car - and pulled the trigger.
Greensboro Police say this happened early Wednesday morning, around 12:45 a.m. They were called to the corner of Lees Chapel Road and Mitchell Avenue, about a subject who was firing his weapon.
Pennington tells WFMY News 2, she was leaving a friend's house just after midnight Friday. As she traveled down North Church Street and through north Greensboro, she came across a man walking in the middle of the road, towards oncoming traffic.
She says, she slowed down - not knowing why he wasn't moving off to the side of the road. But she wasn't prepared for what happened next.
"I’m waiting for him to get over. I get about 20 yards, and he still doesn’t get over," she explained, "I get 15 yards [away] and he pulls the gun. He’s got it pointed at my windshield. Like, I was looking down the barrel of the gun.
"It was between Brightwood School Road and Yanceyville Road. Thankfully there were two lanes, so I was able to get around. But when I got around he stood in the middle of the road and followed my car with the gun and was still shooting."
Pennington says she was able to drive off and call 911 - safe from injury or any car damage.
Police arrested Wesley Bryant Reid, 24, charging him in this incident. He's booked in the Guilford County Jail. His charges range from assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, to discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling. Police say he was intoxicated at the time, with an open container of alcohol.
Pennington says she's grateful the suspect is off the streets, but still plays all the 'what if' scenarios in her mind - still shaken from what happened.
"Don’t take life for granted, because in a split second it could be gone," she said, "What if I hadn’t had acted quickly and got away from him? What if he shot through my windshield? What if he got my dog?"
