A man driving home from work Wednesday, Feb. 8, was shot by another driver, authorities say.
The victim, 67-year-old Ralph Rella, works as a night manager at the Ritz Carlton Lake Oconee and lives in Forsyth, according to Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills. The man said he left work at 10:45 p.m. and was driving South along Ga. Route 44 to Forsyth when a white car pulled up behind him and then moved alongside his and somebody inside the car opened fire on his 2012 Sonata.
One of the bullets passed through the driver-side window and hit Rella in the arm, Sills said.
The gunman fired multiple times and then sped on down the road. Rella continued to drive himself to Putnam General Hospital, where he was treated and transported by ambulance to a hospital in Macon. He is now out of the hospital and recovering well, according to Sills.
The shooting reportedly happened along the state highway between Harmony Road/Hwy. 44 intersection and Embry Farms Services. Sills said there are nine bullet holes in the Sonata, made by either a 9mm or a .40 caliber handgun.
“We are still investigating this,” Sills said. “I’m trying to locate videos along the route to help us identify this person that reportedly passed him and shot him.
“It doesn’t appear to be some random shooting,” the sheriff added. “There’s other reported evidence to substantiate that it wasn’t random.”
Anyone with information should call Putnam County Sheriff’s Office at 706-485-8557.