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Family reacts after 4-year-old shot in both legs during road rage shooting

A clash between two drivers left a father and daughter with hospitalized with gunshot wounds in Granville County Saturday.

Posted Updated

By
Aaron Thomas & Lora Lavigne
, WRAL reporters
OXFORD, N.C. — A clash between two drivers left a father and daughter hospitalized with gunshot wounds in Granville County Saturday.

One man, Ashton Grissom, was driving in the car with his daughter and girlfriend. The other driver was Kevin Faulkner, who had his wife and two daughters in the car.

According to Sheriff Charles Noblin, one driver pulled into the parking lot of the Providence Grocery store on 4626 Old North Carolina Highway 75 in Oxford, and the other driver followed them. Noblin wasn’t clear on which driver first pulled into the lot.

The sheriff's office originally reported that the drivers exchanged shots, and that each man was struck by a bullet, along with Faulkner's 4-year-old daughter.

Originally, the sheriff's office said one driver had been struck in the hand, the other in the neck – and the 4-year-old girl in the leg. However, as the investigation progressed, the sheriff could no longer confirm both drivers had actually fired guns, and an incident report shows that only Faulkner and his daughter had been hit by bullets. WRAL News has asked authorities to clarify whether both drivers fired their weapons or whether Grissom was the only one who fired shots. By Monday afternoon, they had not been able to provide that information, as investigators try to determine what exactly happened.

Grissom is the grandson of former Granville County Sheriff Marion Grissom.

Family members of Faulkner said he was shot through the hand and ended up with a bullet lodged in his neck, while bullets struck his daughter, Kendal Faulkner, 4, in both legs.

"I sat in the hospital and watched my niece cry because she was in pain," said Rebecca Faulkner, Kendal's aunt.

Rebecca Faulkner says that she believes her brother would only have fired in self-defense.

"He did it to protect his family, he's got two kids in the car and his wife."

Katherine Harris stopped by the store to pick up grocery items before the shooting happened.

"All of a sudden we heard like four, five shots go off," she said. "Then we saw a silver car pull up."

Rebecca Faulkner fears because of Grissom's relationship to the former sheriff, the case may be treated unfairly.

"That's why I feel like he didn't go to jail, because he has family in the police," she said.

Authorities said they had not yet filed charges.

Investigators collected shell casings at the scene overnight. There has been no word on if any other vehicles, buildings or people were hit during the gunfire exchange. The Granville County Sheriff and the district attorney are reviewing surveillance video from the grocery store's cameras.

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