Chris Ellis is one lucky fellow.

“I’m alive,” said the 26-year-old Fountain Hills man, two days after he became an innocent bystander March 24 in the Beeline Highway (State Route 87) shootings.

A gunman shot at six vehicles involving 13 individuals before he was taken into custody.

Ellis was returning to his Fountain Hills home after a 10-hour shift at Rural Metro in Mesa, where he schedules ambulances.

He was talking on a Bluetooth device to his grandmother, Helen Ellis, around 8:25 p.m. about a quarter of a mile from the Shea Boulevard intersection. She adopted him when he was five years old. He attended local schools and graduated from Fountain Hills High School

“I hear a bam, bam, bam,” he said in an interview at Helen Ellis’ home. He thought his 2004 Ford Focus Mark 1 had blown a tire.

“I’m not sure if I have a flat tire or I’m being shot at,” he told her over the phone.

Soon after, the car burst into flames and he called 9-1-1.

“Flames were shooting up the hood of my car. I thought it must have been gunshots.”

His immediate reaction was to remain in the vehicle.

“I knew there were things that had to be done in that situation. I knew that I had to get behind something, which is why I didn’t immediately leave my car,” said Chris.

A Jeep with four Fountain Hills occupants travelling south on the opposite side of the highway saw the car in flames and bullets hitting the pavement. They rushed to him and yelled for him to leave the vehicle.

“I got out of the car and put my hand behind my head and felt blood,” he said.

A bullet grazed an area behind and above his right ear. A Salt River medic treated the wound and checked his vital medical three times.

The young witnesses were the first to tell police the make of the gunman’s car and the direction of travel. They were Fountain Hills High School students Kirby Mergen and Dillon Nash, and two graduates Daniel Williams and Dean Trimble.

“They saw the shooter take off,” said Chris. “One suggested that they follow the vehicle and another one said ‘Are you crazy?’ Fortunately, somebody talked some sense there in a couple of minutes.”

Law enforcement from multiple agencies interviewed them until about 3 a.m. before they left the accident scene.

“There was not a negative word out of their mouths,” said Ellis. “They were polite and never complained.”

Helen Ellis described the youths as “fantastic.”

“Their parents should be very proud of them. You always hear negative things about kids but seldom positive comments.”

She drove Chris’ wife Amanda, 26, to the scene. The couple will observe their third wedding anniversary in October.

Amanda’s mother operated the former Desert Dave’s restaurant. Chris was a waiter before starting the Rural Metro job six months ago.

“When I saw the car, I freaked out,” said Amanda. “My husband was in that? It was a relief to see him alive.”

Somehow Chris lost his glasses in the mayhem. An eye examination to buy replacement glasses revealed a foreign substance in his right eye that may require surgery.

Rural Metro colleagues and Fountain Hills Fire Department Crisis Response Team started a Go Fund Me online page to raise $5,000 to replace his Ellis’ car. To contribute, visit gofundme.com/2648nv8.