KIRKLAND, Wash. — A teen is facing assault and drive-by shooting charges after, police said, he flashed a machete and then returned to the scene of a road rage incident with an AK-47 and opened fire.
It happened Thursday evening in Kirkland.
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Nick Frausto has had his conceal and carry permit for more than 25 years; he always knew it could save him. He just never thought he'd need to be saved.
"You never think you're going to use it, you really don't know," he said Friday.
We met Frausto by his pickup truck, which is now riddled with bullets after a road rage incident quickly escalated to a gun battle in the middle of Northeast 116th Street in Kirkland.
Frausto said it started when he honked at a truck that cut him off. While he was at a stoplight on Northeast Juanita Drive, he said the driver, whom police later identified as 19-year-old Alexander Andersen, stuck his arm out the window and slapped a machete on the side of his own vehicle.
Frausto called 911, the pair turned the corner and that's when, Frausto said, Andersen stopped.
"He immediately got out, started to charge me with this machete while I'm on with the 911 operator so I told the operator, 'I'm going to fire a warning shot.' I fired a warning shot. The kid ran back to his car," Frausto said.
He thought it was over but Andersen's home was just around the corner and he came back, police said, armed with an AK-47, and he opened fire.
"He started firing. I saw shots and I started firing. (I was) Backing up, pulled out on Holmes Point, went down towards the park and hid in some luxury homes by the water, hid behind the garage," Frausto said.
The bullet holes in the truck's windshield are from Frausto's gun. The bullet holes in the passenger side upholstery and glass are from Andersen's gun.
"As you can see, that round was only 22 inches from where I was," Frausto said, pointing to the passenger seat headrest.
Andersen also fled, and tried to hide his truck. Then, court documents say, he was delivered back to the scene by his mother. Police later found additional firearms and accessories in his bedroom.
Andersen appeared in King County court on Friday, and the prosecutor argued that, even without a criminal history, he poses an "extreme danger" to the community.
Frausto said "extreme danger" is an understatement. Although, Frausto had a gun and knew how to use it, "I got lucky," he said.
Andersen is facing first-degree and second-degree assault charges and a drive-by shooting charge. He's being held in the King County Jail on $350,000 bond.