FOR COMING UP IN A FEW MINUTES. CAROL: THANK YOU. A POLICE PURSUIT TONIGHT STARTED IN NORTH CAROLINA AND ENDED IN THE UPSTATE. SHOTS WERE FIRED, AND THOUSANDS OF DRIVERS WERE STUCK ON THE HIGHWAY FOR HOURS. OUR RASHAD WILLIAMS FOUND HIMSELF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CHAOS. REPORTER: MY PHOTOGRAPHER AND I WERE HEADED TO A DIFFERENT STORY IN NORTH CAROLINA THAT REQUIRED US TO TRAVEL 85-NORTH. BUT WE NEVER MADE IT. STUCK IN TRAFFIC FOR NEARLY TWO HOURS, WE DECIDED TO SPEAK WITH SOME OTHER PEOPLE GOING THROUGH IT AS WELL, ONE MAN SAYS IT WAS WORSE THAN N.Y. TRAFFIC. >> YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING, SO IT’S LIKE YOU’RE JUST SITTING HERE. IT’S AN ENDLESS WAIT. GOOGLE MAPS SAID LIKE 21 MINUTES AGO LIKE AN HOUR AGO. >> IT SAID LIKE ONE HOUR AND 11 MINUTES WHEN I STUCK AT 4:00 P.M. AND IT’S 5:27 AND I’M PROBABLY STILL NOT EVEN 100 METERS FROM THERE. REPORTER: SOON WE LEARNED WHY TRAFFIC WAS AT A STANDSTILL FOR SO LONG IN BOTH DIRECTIONS. >> THERE WAS A POLICE RELATED SHOOTING RIGHT AT THIS AREA. REPORTER: CHEROKEE COUNTY SHERIFF STEVE MUELLER SAID OFFICERS ATTEMPTED TO STOP A STOLEN U-HAUL TRUCK IN MECKLENBURG COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. POLICE IN LOWELL, NORTH CAROLINA AND BESSEMER CITY, NORTH CAROLINA MADE AN UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO STOP THE DRIVER WITH STOP STICKS ACCORDING TO THE SHERIFF. AT ONE POINT, THE DRIVER OF THE U-HAUL APPEARED TO DRIVE TOWARD AN OFFICER TO RUN HIM OVER AND THAT OFFICER THEN FIRED TWO SHOTS. SHERIFF MUELLER SAID THE PURSUIT ENTERED CHEROKEE COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA AND MORE STOP STICKS WERE USED AT MILE MARKER 102 BUT THE DRIVER KEPT GOING, THROUGH MORE STOP STICKS AT MILE MARKER 96. THE DRIVER CONTINUED FOR FIVE MORE MILES AND WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY AT MILE MARKER 91 WITHOUT INCIDENT. BUT BACK AT THE SCENE OF THE SHOTS FIRED BY THE OFFICER, DRIVERS SAY WHILE EVIDENCE WAS BEING COLLECTED W -- >> EVERYONE HAD TO SLIDE OVER IN THE LEFT LANE. >> WE ALL SLOWED DOWN. THEN WE CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. REPORTER: MARY BETH WAS MOVING HER DAUGHTER INTO COLLEGE. >> WE STOPPED, THEN THE CAR BEHIND US HIT US, THEN IT WAS JUST A CHAIN REACTION. 6 CARS. REPORTER: WITHIN A SPAN OF MINUTES, THERE WERE NEARLY HALF A DOZEN CRASHES IN BOTH THE NORTH AND SOUTHBOUND LANES COMBINED. >> POLICE SCENE, ACCIDENT, STOP, ACCIDENT, STOP, ACCIDENT, IT WAS LIKE A PERFECT STORM ALL OF A SUDDEN. >> THERE WERE THREE HELICOPTERS THAT CAME IN. REPORTER: THOSE INVOLVED IN ONE OF THE FIRST ACCIDENTS ARE THANKFUL THEY ARE ALIVE. >> EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THIS PARTICULAR EXCELLENT -- ACCIDENT, WE ALL PULL TOGETHER. WE ALL MET AND TALKED ABOUT THE SITUATION AND EVERYONE IS PARTING FRIENDS. THERE’S NO ANIMOSITY AT ALL. ONE COUPLE IS RIDING WITH ANOTHER COUPLE BECAUSE THEIR CAR WASN’T DAMAGED MUCH. REPORTER: REPORTING FOR WYFF NEWS 4, I’M RISHAAD WILLIAMS. CAROL: JOSEPH HOUSTON IS CHARGED WITH FAILURE TO STOP AND POSSES