Authorities believe they have identified the suspect responsible for the errant drive-by pellet gun shooting on Southwest Parkway in May that nearly paralyzed a cyclist.

Former Austin High School student Hollan Dyer, 18, was riding shotgun in a blue Toyota Prius in Oak Hill when the car came upon the cyclist, Austinite Brad (last name withheld). According to detectives, Dyer allegedly remarked to his fellow passengers something along the lines of, "I hate cyclists on the road!," then, evidently steamed, rolled down his window and fired at the victim.

The pellet struck Brad in the back and went in about half an inch, barely missing his spine. The car sped off, with all passengers "scrunched down in the seat" so that Brad was unable to catch a glimpse of their faces, but noticed that the two front passengers had curly brown hair.

"I wanted to catch them to find out what did I do to deserve this?" said Brad to KVUE a month after the assault. "Why would you do this to another person and create such a situation where somebody could literally get killed? ... I thought I was aware of everything that was going on around me and this caught me 100 percent by surprise. Nothing to provoke the shooting."

It appears that Dyer may be on the lam, as authorities are unable to locate him. He may have fled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, or is possibly still at his mother's house here in Austin. If convicted, the assault counts as a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a mere $4,000 fine and/or a year's jail sentence.

Filed in News and tagged cycling, nochildleftbehind, oakhill

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