Man shot in head after apparent road rage incident in Arlington

A man was shot in the head during an apparent road rage shooting Monday night. His family was in the car at the time.

The shooting happened around 8 p.m. on Interstate 20 near Collins Street in Arlington. The man was driving with his wife and two 3-year-old kids at the time.

The man's wife told police a car behind them acted as if her husband wasn't driving fast enough. The car tried to pass them on the shoulder and ended up side-swiping them on the passenger side.

They pulled over to try to exchange information with the other driver and that's when things turned violent.

The wife man's wife said the other driver walked up to their car and tried to pull the driver's side mirror off. He then pulled out a handgun and shot her husband in the head in the driver's seat.

"Very scary ordeal. The wife reported to us that her husband couldn't even have an opportunity to explain what was going on because the suspect was just so aggressive and mad. So it went down so quick," said Lt. Chris Cook with the Arlington Police Department.

Fortunately, the bullet just grazed the man's head. He was taken to the hospital and has already been released. His wife and kids were not hurt.

 "All it takes is one person to do it and then that makes one person mad," said Arlington Police Lt. Jeffrey Pugh. "So they are driving angry and making other people mad, and it's a domino effect."

Police are still looking for the shooter. He is believed to be in a white or silver BMW hatchback with damage to the driver's side. The suspect is described as a Hispanic man in his mid-20s about 5'8" with a medium build and mustache and goatee or beard and black rim glasses.

Arlington police say they've had two operations targeting road rage driving since 19-year-old Dylan Spaid was murdered on I-20 in June 2017. That suspect has never been caught.

Since then, police say they've made 199 road rage arrests with increased traffic patrol. That includes the May arrest of 17-year-old Marrion Powell. He is accused of firing shots at a vehicle after possibly being cut off in traffic.

"We are not going after taillight violations or something like that," Pugh said. "We want to go after aggressive driving behaviors, high speeds, aggressive tailgating, those weaving in and out of traffic at high speed and multiple times in a small stretch of roadway without using a signal."

Police are urging drivers to keep their tempers in check and report aggressive drivers to the city's road rage hotline. If you find yourself being followed by an enraged driver, you're urged to call 911.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call Arlington PD.