The child had been on his way to school for the day when his stepfather got into an altercation with another driver, only for things to turn fatal when a gun was pulled out
An 11-year-old boy has died after being shot during a road–rage incident on his way to school. The boy, who has not been publicly named, was travelling to school with his stepdad at around 7:30am on Friday morning (November 14) when the horror happened.
Police said the stepfather and another motorist got involved in a road rage row after jockeying for positions and trying to pass each other on the congested freeway in Henderson, near Las Vegas, Nevada.
Both drivers rolled their respective windows down at which point, one allegedly pulled out a handgun and fired into the back seat of the other vehicle, killing the sitting boy.
The stepfather ‘rammed’ the our–door sedan, bringing both of their cars to a halt in the middle of the road and prompting another ‘heated exchange’, which seen by a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer who was driving on the freeway, police said.
Tyler Matthew Johns, 22, was arrested at the scene and has been charged with open murder, discharging a gun at or into a vehicle and discharging a gun within a vehicle in a prohibited area, police records showed. His handgun was also found inside the car.
A huge emergency service response was scrambled to the scene to treat the boy for his wounds, and he was rushed to the University Medical Centre of Southern Nevada. But he was tragically pronounced dead despite the best efforts of medics.
Henderson police chief Reggie Rader said the boy’s death was “senseless” and “avoidable”. He said in a press conference: “I would rather you be stuck in traffic and late for your destination than have to go to a funeral for a loved one, or potentially spend the rest of your life in prison.
“We have to do better as a city, we have to do better as a community. We have to do better as human beings, because we can’t allow this to continue to happen.”
Johns was officially charged with open murder, discharging a gun at or into a vehicle and discharging a gun within a vehicle in a prohibited area.
Initial investigations found that Johns was the only person in his car and there was no indication he had been impaired during the fatal incident.
Appealing directly to the local community, Rader said: “My ask, my plea of the community — especially as we enter these holiday seasons — is to slow down. You will eventually get there and let’s get there safely.”
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