A merge dispute on a busy Georgia highway turned deadly on the afternoon of August 1, 2026. Around 3:20 p.m. on Highway 78 westbound near the Stone Mountain Park exit, 37-year-old Napoleon Curtis of Stone Mountain was driving a Ford Focus and became involved in a road-rage confrontation with the driver of a box truck. The verbal altercation reportedly escalated as the vehicles drove alongside each other, and the truck driver allegedly produced a firearm and fired multiple shots into Curtis’s car.

Emergency responders found Curtis inside his vehicle off to the side of the road; he was deceased and unarmed. Stone Mountain police located 54-year-old Sean Rucker nearby, took him into custody, and he was arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault. The investigation involved DeKalb County, Gwinnett County, and Stone Mountain police departments and noted that Rucker initially said he saw Curtis with a gun, but no weapon was found in the victim’s car.

Anyone who witnessed the shooting, the lead-up on Highway 78 that afternoon, or who has dashcam or surveillance footage from the area is asked to come forward with information.