Man killed, suspect in custody after road rage shooting on Indiana expressway
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A road rage incident led to a deadly shooting on I-80/94 in Lake Station, Indiana, early Wednesday morning, according to Indiana State Police.
ISP said troopers got a call around 4 a.m. from a man who said he was involved in a shooting and altercation with another driver between Central Avenue and Ripley Street.
Troopers arrived at the scene and found a driver dead from a gunshot wound at Ripley Street. The Lake County, Indiana, Coroner's Office later identified the shooting victim as 55-year-old Mark Brant, of Chesterton, Indiana.
The man who made that original call was taken into custody on I-65, two miles away, shortly after the shooting.
"He didn't stay behind. He continued driving down the roadway and then when he called us, our dispatchers told him to pull over and then troopers responded to him, as well as at the same that this crash occurred," said ISP Sgt. Glen Field. "So we had troopers going to two separate locations and were able to determine that they were related."
Police said he is a suspect in the incident but have not confirmed whether he was the shooter.
The shooting caused a mess during the early morning commute after troopers shut down the interstate at Ripley Street. Drivers were forced to take the Indiana Toll Road to avoid the backup. All lanes have since reopened.
A growing trend of road rage
While many questions surrounding the altercation and shooting remained unanswered late Wednesday, one expert said the growing trend of road rage is a problem nationwide.
"There are trends showing that it is going up," said Molly Hart, a spokesperson for AAA. "People do not have the patience or they're not being courteous."
In the event drivers find themselves in a road rage predicament, Hart said there are a couple of things they can do to deescalate the situation.
"Number one, avoid that eye contact," she said. "Number two, do not deal with it aggressively. Aggression with aggressiveness is not a good thing. Number three, if you really feel that you are at risk, pull over to a place such as a hospital, a fire station, somewhere where there are going to be people around."