Chattanooga Road Rage?

Still trying to process this weird thing that happened the other day:

Friday morning I was on my way to work and was driving down Access Road, headed towards the dam (about 7:05 - 7:10). As I entered into the roundabout, there was a metallic-colored Mustang that was about 1 car length ahead of me; however, by the time we both excited the roundabout, I had overtaken him by about 1/2 a car length. In all honesty, I didn't try to pass the guy intentionally; it just sort of happened as we drove through the roundabout. So... I was in the right hand lane and he was in the left. Given the fact that I was slightly ahead of him, I figured that he would put on his breaks and yield to me so that I could go ahead... especially since there is a sign on the side of the road that indicates that the left lane must merge into the right lane.

Well, the guy wasn't interested in this simple plan and chose to try to squeeze me off the road instead. I was a bit pissed, but in the end I had no choice but to put on my breaks and let him go ahead. But whatever... the guy was an ass. Big deal. I tried to let it go.

Anyway, as we both curve around to merge onto 153 and cross over the dam, there is a car already on 153 in the right hand lane, making it difficult for the guy in the Mustang to merge. I, however, being behind both of them, have no problem merging behind the vehicle that was already on 153, leaving the guy in the Mustang still in the merging lane. I have to admit that here is where I did something that was a bit douchey. Since I was already on 153 and the guy in the Mustang was still trying to merge, I kind of made it a bit tough for him to get in, but nonetheless, I did allow him to get in between me and the car that were already on 153.

So there you have it. The guy had been a bit of a dick and I had been a bit of a prick back. Case closed. I considered the matter over. I didn't tale the guy or try to get around him. I just stayed a reasonable distance behind the guy and we went on down the road. I didn't flip him off or yell or drive erratically. I just let the incident go.

However, by the time we got to hwy 58, he got over in the right hand lane and it appeared that he was getting off on that exit. As he switched to the exiting lane, I noticed that his window was rolling down, and as I looked over I found myself staring into the stern, bearded face of a man who looked to be about 40 and who was holding a handgun out of his window at me and mouthing something that looked like "I'll kill you."

I was a bit shaken and totally dumbfounded. Then I became outraged... but not necessarily for myself. I was more upset about the fact that a total stranger would think it would ever be ok to point a gun at another stranger because of a minor merging issue on the highway. After this, I kind of just shrugged my shoulders and considered it a lesson learned. Every time you get on the road, you take your life into your own hands and you never know what kind of psychos you are going to meet. Also, although I'm not trying to excuse the guy's asshole behavior, it did make me realize that I could have avoided the whole thing by just letting the guy act like the dick he was from the very beginning and just go about my business.

But still... I'm having a tough time figuring out how to feel and what to think about all of this. Anyone else experienced anything like this?