Representational Image.
A 4-year-old girl is dead after gunfire erupted on a New Mexico highway during what appeared to be a confrontation fueled by road rage. And police are scrambling for any leads to solve the crime.
"We have absolutely no suspect information at this time," Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden said. "We are in desperate need of information to help us resolve the conflicting information we're getting right now."
What is known: Tuesday afternoon around 3 p.m. on Interstate 40 West, a Bernalillo County sheriff's deputy found a car stopped on the road. A girl inside had been shot in the head; her mother and father were inside the vehicle, but had not been hurt.
"The dad explained there was some type of road-rage incident," police spokesman Simon Drobik said. "A car pulled up beside them and started firing rounds into the car."
Eden asked for the community's help, and condemned the crime.
"This should have never happened. This is a complete disrespect of human life," Eden said. "We're starting to see this throughout our nation, and this is something that should not be happening in Albuquerque, New Mexico - let alone anywhere else in the United States."
He added: "It's 100 percent preventable. It did not have to happen, and we need to rise up as a community and say enough is enough."
A witness told KOB4 she and her daughter were driving behind two of the vehicles involved in the incident - a red truck and a red sedan - when the conflict arose.
"I do know the red truck was not allowing the red car to pass," Jonell Tafoya told the station. "They kept swerving from lane to lane to keep the vehicle behind them."
Tafoya exited the highway before shots rang out, and didn't know where the shots came from. KOB4 cameras did capture a red sedan by the side of the highway that appeared to be the center of an investigation that closed I-40 W for six hours.
"We have a huge crime scene here," spokesman Drobik said, according to the Albuquerque Journal, saying bullet casings might be found over a large span of I-40. ". . . That's why we shut the freeway down."
This is not the first road-rage shooting to rock Albuquerque in recent weeks. Last month, Anthony Perez, 22, allegedly shot Jacoby Johnson, 34, six times after Perez cut Johnson off. Johnson lost an eye; police said the shooting was self-defense, though the district attorney is investigating.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 1,500 people were killed in crashes involving road rage and aggressive driving since 2008, and the number of those killed each year is on the rise.
© 2015 The Washington Post
"We have absolutely no suspect information at this time," Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden said. "We are in desperate need of information to help us resolve the conflicting information we're getting right now."
What is known: Tuesday afternoon around 3 p.m. on Interstate 40 West, a Bernalillo County sheriff's deputy found a car stopped on the road. A girl inside had been shot in the head; her mother and father were inside the vehicle, but had not been hurt.
"The dad explained there was some type of road-rage incident," police spokesman Simon Drobik said. "A car pulled up beside them and started firing rounds into the car."
Eden asked for the community's help, and condemned the crime.
"This should have never happened. This is a complete disrespect of human life," Eden said. "We're starting to see this throughout our nation, and this is something that should not be happening in Albuquerque, New Mexico - let alone anywhere else in the United States."
He added: "It's 100 percent preventable. It did not have to happen, and we need to rise up as a community and say enough is enough."
A witness told KOB4 she and her daughter were driving behind two of the vehicles involved in the incident - a red truck and a red sedan - when the conflict arose.
"I do know the red truck was not allowing the red car to pass," Jonell Tafoya told the station. "They kept swerving from lane to lane to keep the vehicle behind them."
Tafoya exited the highway before shots rang out, and didn't know where the shots came from. KOB4 cameras did capture a red sedan by the side of the highway that appeared to be the center of an investigation that closed I-40 W for six hours.
"We have a huge crime scene here," spokesman Drobik said, according to the Albuquerque Journal, saying bullet casings might be found over a large span of I-40. ". . . That's why we shut the freeway down."
This is not the first road-rage shooting to rock Albuquerque in recent weeks. Last month, Anthony Perez, 22, allegedly shot Jacoby Johnson, 34, six times after Perez cut Johnson off. Johnson lost an eye; police said the shooting was self-defense, though the district attorney is investigating.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 1,500 people were killed in crashes involving road rage and aggressive driving since 2008, and the number of those killed each year is on the rise.
© 2015 The Washington Post
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