Gunman on the Run After Killing 2 People on Houston Freeway During Rush Hour

Police in Houston, Texas, are pursuing a shooter after he killed two people in a car on a freeway during Thursday evening rush hour, authorities said. After getting a call about an accident at 5:55 p.m., police discovered a shooting scene upon arriving seven minutes later.

The fatal incident began as a crash involving two cars headed eastbound on Interstate 10, Houston Police Assistant Chief Bobby Dobbins said in a news conference Thursday night.

“One of the vehicles struck the other vehicle and spun it out … similar to a pit maneuver,” he said, according to video of the news conference tweeted by Houston Police.

Two occupants of the vehicle that rammed the other car got out, and one had a weapon, Dobbins said.

The gunman, described by a witness as a Hispanic male, fired multiple rounds at the car that had been rammed, pursing it as it rolled down a hill. Once the vehicle came to a stop, the gunman walked to the front of it and fired shots through the windshield.

Police found narcotics in the car of the two victims, who were both middle-aged black men, Dobbins said. He did not identify them.

“Road rage? An accident? Narcotics? We just don’t know yet, so I won’t speculate,” he said.

Police said that a witness, who had a pistol in his car, fired several shots when he saw the shooter turn toward him. It’s unclear whether the first gunman was struck by a bullet, but he reportedly ran back up the hill, got into his car and sped away.

Dobbins said police “don’t have a good description of the [shooter’s] vehicle” and that they “believe it was a sedan.”

KHOU-TV sports reporter Daniel Gotera witnessed the incident, tweeting on Thursday that “a guy gets out of his car with gun just shooting in the middle of freeway. Unbelievable.”

That part of the freeway was still closed Friday morning as police continue to investigate.