Off-Duty New Jersey Cop Charged In Alleged Road Rage Shooting
MILLERSVILLE, Md. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- An off-duty Hudson County, N.J., police detective was facing charges Sunday in what might have been a road rage shooting.
As WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported, Joseph Walker, 40, was charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in connection with the Saturday evening incident, which happened on shoulder of the ramp from northbound Route 3 to Interstate 97 near Millersville, Md., near Baltimore.
On Sunday night, police lights marked the highway ramp where the random meeting between drivers ended in the deadly confrontation, CBS 2's Don Champion reported.
Investigators said it began when Joseph Harvey Jr., 36, was driving a Honda Accord, and 40-year-old Walker, a New Jersey detective, driving a minivan.
They first came into contact near Route 3 and Annapolis Road. A mile north at the interchange with Interstate 97, everything got heated.
Off-Duty New Jersey Cop Charged In Alleged Road Rage Shooting
"The two vehicles came to rest there on the ramp," said Maryland State Police spokeswoman Elena Russo. "The drivers exited the vehicles and another altercation ensued."
That was when things turned deadly, Russo said.
"Walker, who was driving the minivan with his wife and three children, brandished a firearm, and fired at Harvey more than one time," she said.
The shots from Walker's .45-caliber Glock in fatally wounded Harvey.
"Certainly, this appears this is some sort of aggressive behavior gone bad," Russo said.
Investigators Sunday night were now looking into what escalated the apparent case of road rage.
Walker works with the Hudson County Prosecutor's office. He is from Easthampton, N.J, near Philadelphia, where word of what happened was trickling in Sunday night.
Outside his home, Walker's work car was still parked. He and his family were in Maryland at the time of the incident visiting family.
"He was just friendly -- the whole family is friendly," said neighbor Cathy Richardson. "They're not overly talkative -- friendly guy -- seems to be really family oriented."
Walker was being held on $1 million bond Sunday night.
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