NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Almost a year after a Davidson County judge's car was struck by bullets in an apparent road rage shooting, the suspected gunman is in custody.
On Friday, Aug. 30, the Metro Nashville Police Department announced that 23-year-old David J. Bush was arrested in connection with the Sept. 8, 2023, shooting on Interstate 440 West in the Berry Hill area. An indictment accuses Bush of attempted murder and multiple other charges.
According to officials, Bush is believed to have been in the white sedan that opened fire on a Toyota Prius being driven by Davidson County Chancery Court Judge I'Ashea Myles around 8:50 p.m. that night.
The sedan reportedly passed Myles' Prius on the left shoulder of the interstate, then swerved into a lane to the right. The driver of the sedan slowed down as shots were fired at the passenger side of her car.
Authorities said Myles, who presided over a legal battle involving the Covenant shooter's writings, was struck by broken glass, but otherwise uninjured.
Her 25-year-old friend who was riding in the front passenger seat suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds to her hand and leg. The 25-year-old was hospitalized at Vanderbilt before being discharged to continue her recovery at home.
After the shooting, Myles provided the following statement to the public:
We’d like to thank our friends, family, neighbors, and the entire Nashville community for the outpouring of support after this unfortunate and dangerous road rage incident. The generosity and caring nature of the Nashville community is something special, and our family certainly feels that right now. We also want to thank the Metro Nashville Police Department, the Nashville Fire Department, the emergency first responders, and the medical team at Vanderbilt Hospital for their heroic efforts last Friday night. We are deeply saddened and angered by this senseless attack and hope those responsible are caught and brought to justice. We again thank everyone for their support as well as understanding our request for privacy.
Davidson County Chancery Court Judge I'Ashea Myles
Investigators determined that the suspect had been driving at a high rate of speed prior to the shooting and had been seen weaving in and out of traffic. Detectives said they were able to identify Bush as the suspect through ballistic evidence and cell phone data.
The ballistic evidence also linked Bush to a Feb. 10 road rage incident on Murfreesboro Pike where police said shots were fired from a white Nissan sedan into a car containing three people. The car was hit by the bullets, but the victims were not.
An analysis by the MNPD Crime Laboratory reportedly revealed that the same gun used in the Feb. 10 shooting also fired the shots in the road rage incident last September.
"It is a priority of this police department to identify and then apprehend, in a precision manner, those who are putting innocent persons in our community at risk through their violent behavior, particularly gun violence," Nashville Police Chief John Drake said in a news release following Bush's arrest. "Technology and science are being used by our detectives to make Nashville safer."
The indictment in the Myles case, returned Wednesday, Aug. 28 by the Davidson County Grand Jury, charges Bush with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, six counts of aggravated assault, and one count of reckless endangerment for shooting from a vehicle.
He is charged with an additional felony reckless endangerment count for the Feb. 10 case. A Criminal Court judge set Bush's bond at $500,000.
At the time of his arrest on Friday, Bush was free on a $125,000 bond stemming from his arrest in another road rage incident earlier this year. In that incident on March 28, a 55-year-old man was shot in the head on Murfreesboro Pike.
Bush was arrested and charged with attempted homicide and reckless endangerment after reportedly admitting to detectives he was driving recklessly on Murfreesboro Pike to try to follow his girlfriend who was in a separate car.
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This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available.