NORRISTOWN — A Philadelphia man potentially faces time behind bars in connection with a road rage incident along Route 309 in Upper Dublin Township during which he fired a handgun at another driver’s vehicle.
Shaun Haleem Williams, 31, of the 6800 block of Clearview Street, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to a felony charge of aggravated assault in connection with the April 2024 incident.
Judge Risa Vetri Ferman deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigation report about Williams.
Williams, who remains free on bail pending sentencing, faces a possible maximum sentence of 11½ to 23 months in jail on the charge.
Under state law, by pleading guilty to aggravated assault, Williams admitted that he attempted to cause bodily injury to another person with a deadly weapon.
The investigation began about 9:30 a.m. April 5 when state police at Philadelphia responded to a report that a shooting occurred along southbound Route 309 near the I-276 exit ramp. The male victim related to 911 operators that he pulled into a parking lot just off Route 309 in Cheltenham Township after the shooting to wait for police to arrive, according to a criminal complaint filed by state police Trooper Eugene Tray.
When police arrived on the parking lot they observed a single bullet hole in the passenger side of the victim’s Ford F-150 pickup truck. The investigation determined the bullet entered the victims’ vehicle through the passenger side rear door and stopped once it struck the metal B-pillar.
“The projectile could not be located within the truck. The victim advised troopers that he was not struck by the gunfire,” Tray alleged.
The victim told police he was traveling southbound in the left lane of Route 309 when he was “tailgated” by a dark gray hatchback-style vehicle whose operator then changed lanes to the right and pulled adjacent to the victim’s truck, according to the arrest affidavit.
The driver, subsequently identified as Williams, “brandished a black in color semiautomatic pistol out of the driver’s window and pointed it at the victim,” police alleged.
“Once the victim observed the firearm and now fearing for his life, he accelerated rapidly to avoid being shot. As he accelerated, the defendant fired one round from the black pistol at the victim’s truck, striking the truck on the passenger side B-pillar,” Tray alleged. “The victim stated that at no point did he brandish a weapon nor provoke the defendant in any way prior to the round being discharged.”
After the shooting, Williams accelerated away and the victim then followed in an attempt to obtain a license plate number, including recording a cellphone video, but could not keep up with the speed of Williams’ vehicle and lost sight of the vehicle as it traveled toward the Philadelphia border. Police said the registration of Williams’ vehicle could not be determined by the cellphone video as it had a tinted license plate cover.
But investigators were able to use automated license plate readers in the areas traveled by the suspect’s Mazda CX-30 vehicle to eventually assist them in identifying Williams, who matched the description of the suspect provided by the victim.
The investigation also revealed that Williams had a valid permit to carry a firearm and had purchased 9mm Taurus firearms between 2019 and 2022.
“Both of these firearms would match the firearm description as provided by the victim,” Tray alleged.
The victim subsequently identified Williams, from a driver’s license photograph, as the operator of the Mazda and as the person who shot at him, according to the arrest affidavit.
Later that same day, at 5 p.m., Exeter Township police in Berks County conducted a traffic stop of the Mazda CX-30 vehicle operated by Williams as it traveled eastbound on Route 422. During the traffic stop Williams advised police that there was a firearm in his vehicle and Williams was taken into custody at that point, court papers indicate.
Other charges of simple assault, terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person and possessing an instrument of crime are slated to be dismissed against Williams at time of sentencing in exchange for his guilty plea to the more serious felony aggravated assault charge.