A road rage incident early Monday escalated into a shooting that left a 50-year-old man dead, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.
The incident occurred about 5:20 a.m. Investigators believe the incident, which involved two vehicles, began on eastbound state Route 201 near I-215 in West Valley City and culminated just west of 900 West in Salt Lake City with the shooting and at least one of the vehicles crashing, according to UHP Lt. Cam Roden.
“It appears that there was, from our early investigation, some type of a road rage incident that happened that escalated into a shooting,” Roden told KSL NewsRadio. “Out of that, there is one individual that is deceased and the other individual is in custody working with law enforcement.”
He said investigators believe there was a crash that disabled one of the vehicles, followed by shots being fired. A 50-year-old man was killed, and officials have a 44-year-old man in custody. It’s unclear if the two men knew each other prior to the crash, he said.
It was also unclear whether the man was killed in the crash or as a result of the shooting.
Asked if the incident is being investigated as a potential homicide or a case of self-defense, Roden said: “We do want to investigate every option that there is, so (we’re) looking at every angle to see if this could have been a road rage, could have been self-defense.”
“So, that’s important for us to document the scene, and that’s why the road closure is going to be a little bit longer as we document the scene and make sure we collect any evidence that pertains to this incident,” he added. Eastbound lanes of S.R. 201 were closed between 900 West and Redwood Road.
Roden said investigators have heard from one person who is believed to have information about the incident, but asked any others with video or eyewitness accounts of the shooting to contact UHP at 801-887-3800.
Utah has seen a rash of road rage crashes in recent years, and Roden said the UHP has investigated previous instances of road rage that escalated into shootings. He said troopers have investigated over 40 road rage cases since July.
“We want to make sure that people maintain control of their emotions, that we help get people to and from and that people can travel on our roadways here in Utah safely,” he told KSL-TV.
Contributing: Karah Brackin