INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - Court documents help reveal what friends and one of the drivers say happened in the moments before a deadly road rage shooting. The road rage happened Saturday evening on I-465 on the northwest side of Indianapolis off the West 38th Street.
Friends of 32-year-old road rage victim Mustafa Ayoubi are sharing the moments before his fatal shooting. The same court documents explain why police arrested 33-year-old Dustin Passarelli of Plainfield for murder.
The court documents obtained by Eyewitness News show the victim's friends told officers they waited on Mustafa, so they could go play pool. When they came outside, they could hear arguing. The witnesses shared with officers that they heard Passarelli using religious and ethnic insults. Once outside, they reportedly watched Mustafa as he walked around to the driver's side of Passarelli's vehicle. They say that's when Passarelli began shooting him.
Ayoubi’s friends told officers they feared for their lives and took cover during the gunfire. While in a safe place from the bullets, they called 911, according to the court records.
Metro Police took Passarelli to headquarters downtown for questioning to get his side of the story. Passarelli told detectives while driving on Interstate 465 another driver (Ayoubi) started driving aggressively and honking his horn. The court documents states Passarelli believed Ayoubi threw something at his car or hit his car. He then followed the other car off the interstate, so he could get the info of the driver in case there was damage.
Passarelli explained while following the other car, he followed the vehicle around McDonald's twice before they stopped inside the Lake Crossing at Eagle Creek Apartments. Passarelli told police before the shooting he hurled insults back at the victim and cursed him. He says Ayoubi punched his window a second time. Passarelli admitted he shot through the window approximately five times.
The coroner said two bullets struck Mustafa Ayoubi in the back. The court documents outlining the incident also indicate that the coroner diagnosed approximately seven defects to the back, chest and shoulder areas of Mustafa Ayoubi.
Part of a statement from Mustafa Ayoubi's family to Eyewitness News reads:
"He was a victim of a hate crime. He died because someone believed that he did not belong in the USA and he was a foreigner. Mustafa was an American!"
Mustafa’s family says that they just want justice for their loved one.
Friends told us Ayoubi emigrated from Afghanistan in 2001, became a U.S. citizen and graduated from IU's Kelley School of Business.
Eyewitness News also wanted to learn from Passarelli’s family if he shared any of the road rage incident with them and if he always traveled with a weapon for his safety. However, no one answered the door at Passarelli's home in Plainfield.
He is scheduled for an initial hearing this week.
Police officers are still looking for witnesses to the road rage. If you have any information that could help, call Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS.