Cyclist on Southwest Pkwy Becomes Victim of a Prius Drive-By Shooting

A cyclist enjoying a ride along Southwest Parkway in May became the victim of an errant drive-by pellet gun shooting, by some people in a light blue Prius.

Austinite Brad (last name has since been withheld) told KVUE that he'd been riding near the 7600 block of Southwest Parkway in Oak Hill, on the afternoon of May 1st, when he encountered a light blue Prius with two people inside. Sensing that something was amiss, Brad was doubtlessly still shocked when, unprovoked, one of the people in the car shot him in his back with a pellet gun.

The pellet went in about half an inch, barely missing his spine. The car sped off, with both passengers "scrunched down in the seat" so that Brad was unable to catch a glimpse of their faces. He did, however, notice that both had curly brown hair.

The area, coincidentally, is just at the edge of where alleged sniper Darren Inberg had gone on a 3-year-long shooting rampage directed at cars that he believed were going too fast. Inberg was arrested in April and charged with deadly conduct.

"I wanted to catch them to find out what did I do to deserve this?" said Brad to KVUE. "Why would you do this to another person and create such a situation where somebody could literally get killed? ... I thought I was aware of everything that was going on around me and this caught me 100 percent by surprise. Nothing to provoke the shooting."

Whether the attack was a copycat crime or just a random act of violence, Brad is determined not to let the incident deter him from riding his bike.

"I'm not going to stop. Nothing like this could stop me from doing that,” he said. “I would say the lesson learned for me is don't panic when something like this happens. Stay in control, don't try to encounter the individuals yourself, just get a license plate number and report it."

Authorities are still on the lookout for the light blue Prius.