‘Desperate’ police appeal for help after 4-year-old killed in Albuquerque road rage incident

‘Desperate’ police appeal for help after 4-year-old killed in Albuquerque road rage incident

Albuquerque police issued a “desperate” appeal for witnesses Wednesday after a cold-blooded shooter drove up alongside a car in early rush hour traffic and opened fire, killing a 4-year-old girl as her horrified parents watched in an apparent case of road rage.

“We are in desperate need of info to help us resolve the conflicting information we’re getting right now,” Police Chief Gordon Eden said. “We’re begging for the community’s help.”

The killer was going west on Interstate 40 within city limits and pulled up alongside the car the unidentified child was riding in and opened fire around 3 p.m., shooting the child in the head. The child’s heartbroken father told police it was a case of road rage.

“The dad explained there was some type of road rage incident,” said police spokesman Officer Simon Drobik.

“We have absolutely no suspect information at this time,” Drobik added, echoing Eden’s plaintive appeal. “We need the community’s help. You had to have seen something. Please call us.”

“We’re begging for the community’s help.”

– Albuquerque Police Chief Gordon Eden

A woman who said she was on the road at the time of the incident told KOB-TV she saw a red truck driving erratically on I-40, and believes she saw the early stages of the tragic incident.

“We were actually behind the two vehicles that were in the middle of the road rage incident: red truck, red sedan,” Jonelle Tafoya told the station. “The red truck was not allowing the red car to pass [and] kept swerving from lane to lane to keep the vehicle behind them.”

Tafoya said she exited the highway out of fear something bad would happen, then later heard about the girl’s death.

“I got the notification that something had occurred on my phone that a child had been shot in the head at Unser and I-40, and all I could think was, ‘oh my God. That was it exactly. That was probably the road rage incident we had seen.'”

The girl’s father pulled over after the incident, and a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputy arrived on the scene to find the child inside, Drobik said. The girl was rushed to University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Drobik confirmed the girl’s death at an evening news conference, saying the shooting represented “a terrible, tragic loss” and a “disrespect for human life.”

I-40, one of two freeways running through New Mexico’s largest city, reopened late Tuesday.

Detectives were interviewing multiple witnesses, Eden said.

“Our priority is always the collection and preservation of evidence,” he said. “We should never see these incidents happen.”

The shooting comes after a road-rage shooting last month in Albuquerque in which police say a man fired at another driver in self-defense. The Sept. 9 shooting that wounded 34-year-old Jacoby Johnson was being reviewed by the District Attorney’s Office. A month earlier, a driver used a camera to record another motorist brandishing a gun at him on I-25 in Albuquerque, resulting in felony charges for the suspect.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

How We Can Help
If you, a friend or a family member find themselves in a situation such as this, please call the Law Office of Scott A. Ferris, P.A. at 305 670-3330 right away. Scott A. Ferris, Esq. is a licensed criminal law attorney who has been practicing law since 1987. He is available whenever you need him to defend your rights. Please learn about our firm at www.FerrisLawFirm.com.
Republished by the Law Office of Scott A. Ferris, P.A.