Man Shot On I-80/94 During Indiana Road Rage Incident
HAMMOND, Ind. (STMW) -- A man driving home from work was shot during an apparent road-rage incident on I-80/94 in northwest Indiana Wednesday afternoon.
The 48-year-old Valparaiso man was driving home from work about 4 p.m. when he merged in front of another vehicle onto the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80/94 at Cline Avenue, Indiana State Police said in a release.
The driver of the other vehicle eventually pulled alongside the victim's vehicle, rolled down his window and started to yell at the victim, police said.
The Valparaiso man sped off to avoid the confrontation, but later noticed that the suspect was trying to catch up with him, police said.
The suspect's vehicle had almost caught up with him, when the driver heard a loud bang and realized his rear passenger window of his 1999 Dodge Ram pickup truck had been shattered, police said.
He initially thought his truck had been hit with a brick, but later realized he had been shot, police said. The bullet entered his upper back and exited through the front of his shoulder. The man was able to retrieve the bullet when he took his shirt off, police said.
The suspect veered across all lanes of traffic and exited at Ripley Street just after the shooting, police said. He is described as a middle-age black male with very short hair driving a silver or gray Dodge Ram 1500 pickup, the release said.
The man shot pulled over and called police, and was taken to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Authorities are calling the shooting a "road rage incident" and are asking anyone with information to call police at (219) 690-0039.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)