Charlotte doctor charged after shooting two sisters during I-77 road-rage incident

On the morning of August 22, Dr. Richard Thomas Arriviello, a 61-year-old emergency-medicine physician from Charlotte, was stopped by Virginia State Police after allegedly discharging a firearm into a moving Jeep on Interstate 77, roughly three miles north of the state line. The gunfire hit two sisters, ages 12 and 20, in their legs; both were airlifted to a nearby hospital where their injuries were deemed not life-threatening.

Following the incident, Arriviello drove away in his Mercedes-Benz, but troopers located and detained his vehicle about 15 miles later. He now faces felony charges such as malicious shooting into an occupied vehicle, maliciously causing bodily harm with intent to maim, and using a firearm while committing a felony. Arriviello is being held without bond at the New River Valley Regional Jail and is scheduled for a court appearance on September 29. State police have not disclosed the motive for the road-rage encounter or whether a weapon was recovered, and the Jeep’s driver was cited for reckless driving.