Speed saves? Saleen Mustang stunt driver evades gunman
On his way home one night, Chris Wilks was driving his black 1999 Saleen Mustang in Dallas when a mysterious Chevy Avalanche drove up beside him as though the driver wanted to say something. Used to the attention his 425h-p muscle car attracted, Wilks thought nothing of it and kept on driving. Up ahead, the two vehicles came to a stop light, and suddenly the passenger in the Chevy pulled out a gun and fired at the Mustang.Wilks accelerated out of the scene, the bullet missing both the driver and car, but eventually the crazed Chevy caught up and began firing once again. Using skills learnt during a previous stint as a stunt driver, Wilks managed to get away once again and then dialed 911. He then began chasing the pickup himself in an attempt to get its license plate.
Barreling down the highway at 100 mph, the pickup eventually lost control and crashed into a shed containing a propane tank, which exploded. Nobody was seriously injured and police managed to arrest an 18- and 19-year old after finding a .45-caliber pistol. Sadly, Wilks may now be selling the car that possibly saved his life.
Thanks for the tip, Matt!
[Source: Dallas News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rob 7:08PM (8/22/2007)
Average day for me... after something like this I usually go lay down some funky fresh rap tracks, then go play jai alai with my posse.
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Rboyett 7:08PM (8/22/2007)
This guy is one of our peeps at DFWstangs :)
http://www.dfwstangs.net/forums/showthread.php?p=4543107#post4543107
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Corey L 7:38PM (8/22/2007)
Love the attitude over there:
"stupid non shooting ass mexicans..."
"Too bad el pistoleros didn't get burned just a little during the propane tank explosion"
"is 'stupid bastards' the new code name for spics?"
HiTork 8:37PM (8/23/2007)
Agreed. I love how people turn things into race especially if it happens the other party isn't race. Why not focus on the fact they're criminal scum in the first place rather than race? I wonder had the guys been white would they have been saying, "Damn stupid ass crackers!"
joe 7:13PM (8/22/2007)
From the article:
"The light turned green, and he pointed a gun straight at me and pulled the trigger," Mr. Wilks said. The shot missed both him and the car.
L O L
.45ACP is probably too much recoil for those punks. They'll probably be more accurate and do more damage with spit balls and a slingshot.
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Larry 7:16PM (8/22/2007)
I bet the gunslingers were repubuffoons and voted for bush!
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Eagle1 11:35AM (8/23/2007)
Are you Larry the democratic math teacher? - the last presidential election was in 2004 - these guys are 18 and 19 now - do the math
wilbot 7:37PM (8/22/2007)
Think, if it was a civic si.
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Chris Vitale 7:38PM (8/22/2007)
I wanna know why they shot. Sounds like a page out of The Sopranos or Biggies book.
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Phil 7:38PM (8/22/2007)
The real question here is how Chuck Norris finds time to cruise in his mustang in between fighting grizzlys and impregnating nuns.
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Phil 7:38PM (8/22/2007)
The real question here is how Chuck Norris finds time to cruise in his mustang in between fighting grizzlys and impregnating nuns.
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Phil 7:39PM (8/22/2007)
Ahh, love that triple post feature.
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Frank 7:50PM (8/22/2007)
The guy in the mustang must have thought he was Steve McQueen for chasing them after. But nonetheless, i think it was an attempt to car-jack.
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James Sonne 8:15PM (8/22/2007)
My opinion is that it was probably a gang initiation requirement: shoot a random person on the road. That kind of thing happened not infrequently in my hometown. Kids would drive around at night with their lights off, and the first car that flashed their highbeams at them became the target as part of an initiation into a gang. They probably thought that shooting someone in a Mustang Saleen would get them extra credentials with their gang, as someone with that car must be tougher than any normal person.
And to say that the car, the Mustang, saved this person's life is ridiculous. A learned driver was able to out maneuver an assailant due to his own skill. Any car can be driven at speed, and most can accelerate faster than an SUV, and maneuver better. Even if not, a skilled driver can use any car's advantages.
I would like to request Autoblog do a follow-up on this article discussing the ultimately determined reason for the incident.
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paul34 8:46PM (8/22/2007)
Please stop spreading false myths.
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/lightsout.asp
James Sonne 8:52PM (8/22/2007)
So because some website tells you that that story is false some how means that no gang has ever used this as initiation, or that some poor teenager didn't decide to do it because he heard it might be a way to get into a gang? Don't be ridiculous. There are lots of crazy people out there that do crazy things because they've heard of it somewhere. Why do you think things like Columbine-like school shootings occured, etc?
Arthur 11:25PM (8/22/2007)
Where the heck did you grow up man?!
tom sullivan 12:59AM (8/23/2007)
yeah that totally happens... that's how i was initiated to cedar block piru afterall...
epilonious 8:14AM (8/23/2007)
"So because some website tells you that that story is false some how means that no gang has ever used this as initiation,"
It's not some website... it's Snopes... which goes out of it's way to investigate whether something is a myth or not. If they say it's a myth, it's most likely a complete myth.
"or that some poor teenager didn't decide to do it because he heard it might be a way to get into a gang?"
Well Gee, they could have... or it simply doesn't happen... and if you are so sure it's happening why don't you find the News Article that Snopes couldn't to convince them and the rest of the world.
"Don't be ridiculous. There are lots of crazy people out there that do crazy things because they've heard of it somewhere. Why do you think things like Columbine-like school shootings occured, etc?"
And for every crazy person that does something stupid there are about a million that don't... So stop being ridiculous and assuming that because someone has imagined it, it's happened in great enough volume for people to be worried about it over, say, falling into an open manhole or eating a poisonous bug that happens to fly into their mouth.
I'm pretty sure even gangs are more interested in shooting up other gangs than random strangers on the street. Gangs going out and killing other gang members gets them turf, cred, and the like from people who care about their machinations. Gangs going out and killing random people gets them lynched by a large angry mob who didn't give a shit about them until they started intentionally killing random bystanders.
Carlos 8:18PM (8/22/2007)
Wow - I can't believe I am reading this. Something similar happened to me a few years ago.
I had a 94 Saleen Mustang and a truck flagged me down - This was near my house so I thought that maybe they knew me or one of my friends that were in the car with me and wanted to talk.
When the truck pulled up next to me the guy in the passenger seat yelled something like 'get out the car'. He then pointed what I think was a sawed off shotgun with a bandanna wrapped around the trigger. This thing was pointed right at my face - I froze for what felt like an eternity - he opened the door and started stepping out - I took that opportunity to floor it. They chased us for a few blocks but I was able to outrun them and call the police. There is no way in hell I was going to chase them after having a gun inches from my face - I left that up to the authorities.
They were stopped a few hours later, with the gun still in their possession - after a short trial they were locked up.
My friend that was sitting in the back seat still gives me shit about flooring it like that becuase he feels like if the guy would have taken a shot it would have hit him.
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