High school football coach fired after alleged road rage shooting

MESA, Ariz. (KPHO/Gray News) — A high school football coach in Arizona has been fired after police say he fired a gun during a road rage dispute.

Mesa authorities say Natrell “Natal” Curtis, 34, was arrested Wednesday and booked on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, disorderly conduct with a deadly weapon and unlawful discharge of a firearm.

The reported shooting occurred on Aug. 21 near Country Club Drive and Juanita Avenue. Arriving officers said vehicle debris, two .40-caliber shell casings and a black metal drinking cup engraved with “Coach Curtis” were found in the road.

“It started off with several 911 calls into our call center of a vehicle collision and possibly shots fired,” Det. Laura Cervantes with the Mesa Police Department said.

Mesa police investigators said they used witnesses’ cellphone video, vehicle dashcam footage, city bus cameras and surveillance video from a nearby Home Depot to reconstruct the confrontation.

According to investigators, the footage showed a tan pickup truck stopped at a red light when a dark gray Honda Civic, driven by Curtis, pulled alongside it. Curtis reportedly threw the engraved black metal cup at the truck before repeatedly cutting in front of the pickup.

“Someone was observant enough to realize that they may have witnessed a crime and pulled over and provided that dashcam footage to police,” Cervantes said.

According to court documents, the pickup driver swerved to pass Curtis and eventually rammed the Honda from behind. As the vehicles separated, police said Curtis pointed a gun at the pickup and fired.

Detectives said a gun was found in Curtis’s possession when he was taken into custody.

During a police interview, Curtis reportedly admitted to the shooting and confirmed the gun found on him was the weapon used. He reportedly told detectives he was angry because the other driver had thrown coins at his car, and he fired because he feared the driver might be armed.

“This world that we live in now, there are cameras everywhere, and everyone is watching. You have to be cognizant,” parent Michael Montecalvo said. “You’re a leader, you’re a coach, you’re teaching youth, and then you make a mistake like that. It hurts, and I’m sure he’s hurting.”

Nathan Kleve, principal of Corona del Sol High School in Tempe, sent a letter to families regarding Curtis, who was an off-campus assistant defensive line coach for the varsity football team.

District officials confirmed the Tempe Union High School District has terminated Curtis’s employment.

School officials stressed that the dispute occurred off campus, after school hours, and had no connection to school activities.

Curtis is the second Tempe Union employee at Corona del Sol in legal trouble recently.

Antony Cruz, who worked as a surveillance officer, allegedly gained access to cameras that were recording a room of young teen girls undressing at Corona del Sol High School. He’s facing seven counts of voyeurism and is being held on a $100,000 cash-only bond.

“I think all eyes are on the school right now and just bad timing on his part,” Montecalvo said of the back-to-back arrests.

Curtis is scheduled to appear in court next week.