PORTLAND, OR -- A Madras man was convicted in federal court, Friday, of charges related to a 2017 road rage incident on the Warm Springs reservation. According to the U.S. Attorney's office, 28-year-old Dat Quoc Do was riding in the front passenger seat of a vehicle driven by his girlfriend, Thao Bich Tran, in September 2017, when they came upon another eastbound car, driven by a tribal member. Tran was tailgating the vehicle on Highway 26 when the other driver motioned for her to pass. At some point, the tribal member's passenger threw a water bottle toward Tran's car. Do then fired several shots out of the passenger window, but did not hit the other car.

Tran was eventually able to change lanes and pass the other car, at which time, according to court records, Do pointed the gun out his window; the other driver slammed on the brakes, and Do fired several more shots as Tran drove away. The other driver called tribal police and an officer later stopped Tran's car, ordering both people out of the car at gunpoint. Officers recovered a .45 caliber handgun in the passenger door and a magazine partially loaded with five rounds.

"There is simply no excuse for this sort of violence in our community. Mr. Do's actions are very serious and could have critically injured or killed an innocent motorist," U.S. Attorney for Oregon Billy J. Williams said in a statement. "The jury clearly saw this case for what it is: an egregious and preventable overreaction to an otherwise ordinary event on the highway." Renn Cannon, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon said, "By shooting towards another car, Mr. Do put lives in danger and traumatized the occupants including a child inside the vehicle."

Do faces a maximum of five years in prison and will be sentenced June 10.