Driver shoots motorist in dispute over gas-station line in Chelyabinsk amid Russia’s fuel crisis

A driver opened fire on another motorist with a rubber-bullet pistol during a dispute over a gas station line in Chelyabinsk, the Russian news outlet 74.ru reported. The wounded man was hospitalized.

Witnesses said the incident took place on July 11 at a Gazprom station on Lutsenko Street. A Chelyabinsk resident tried to cut the line, was told to wait his turn, and responded by opening fire.

“The man was told to get in line like everyone else to fill up his car, but he decided he didn’t want to do that,” a witness said. “And what if everyone reacted that way? We had children in the car — where could the bullet have gone? The victim got shot in the stomach, and there was quite a lot of blood.”

The shooter fled after the incident. Police said they tracked him down and detained him — a 26-year-old city resident. Police are searching for the rubber-bullet weapon he used.

Prosecutors have opened a criminal case on charges of battery under Article 116 of Russia’s Criminal Code, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison. For now, the suspect cannot be placed in pretrial detention because he is already serving an administrative penalty for public intoxication.

Enormous lines at Russian gas stations have formed amid a fuel crisis caused by Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil facilities. Arguments and fights — sometimes involving weapons — break out frequently in the lines.