Dramatic video shows a bus driver and passenger opening fire at each other on a moving bus in Charlotte, North Carolina, earlier this month after an argument left both injured, traffic authorities said. .

The shooting, which unfolded May 18 while others were aboard the bus, began after a passenger identified by authorities as Omarri Shariff Tobias got up while the bus was in motion and asked the driver to let him off between stops, according to a news release. of the Charlotte area transit system.

The driver, David Fullard, told Tobias he would have to wait until the next designated stop, the transit system said, according to the NBC affiliate. NCMCbased in Charlotte.

In video of the altercation released by the transit system, Tobias appears to taunt Fullard as he continues to drive, according to WCNC. Tobias then appears to pull out a gun, and Fullard pulls out his own firearm moments later.

Bullets can then be seen breaching a barrier between the driver and passenger. It was not immediately clear from the video who fired first. CATS did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment from NBC News.

Fullard was shot in the arm and Tobias was struck in the abdomen, the transit system said in its news release.

Tobias is facing several charges in the incident, including assault with a deadly weapon, WCNC reported.

RATP Dev, the third-party operator of the city buses, said it had «parted ways» with Fullard after he violated employee policy by carrying a firearm at work, according to the news outlet. RATP Dev did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment from NBC News.

The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department has not announced any criminal charges against the bus driver.

Brent Cagle, the interim executive director of CATS, said an investigation found Fullard did not use any of the three alarm systems available to bus drivers, according to WCNC. He also said it was standard procedure not to allow passengers to get off between bus stops, but said drivers can make a concession if necessary.

«If they feel it’s in their best interest and they can do it safely, letting the passenger out even at an undesignated stop, that’s a completely reasonable action for them to take,» Cagle said.

Attorney Ken Harris, who is representing Fullard, told WCNC that the bus driver had worked with CATS for nearly 20 years.

“Mr. Fullard is a long-term employee of the CATS bus system,” Harris said, before the announcement that RATP Dev had parted ways with the bus driver. “He loves his job and wants to stay there and we want to make sure we address any problem that may arise related to this incident.”

Harris also said that incidents of bus drivers being injured and assaulted while doing their jobs have been a persistent problem in Charlotte.

“You have these incidents that happen over and over again, where drivers are mugged, shot at, shot or killed,” Harris said earlier this week. «It creates a situation where drivers fear they won’t get home.»

In February 2022, a CATS bus driver, Ethan Rivera, was shot in what authorities said was believed to be a road rage incident. He died from his injuries the next day, according to NCMC.