A grim tide of road rage has engulfed San Antonio. Over the past month, six separate incidents have escalated well beyond honking horns and shouting matches—an alarming spike in violent altercations, with one case involving a child being grazed by a bullet.

Among the victims, 10-year-old Carson Carabajal and his father Clay recounted their harrowing experience to KENS 5, when gunshots pierced their car. "I was just reading my little snack cookbook when all of a sudden I hear four firework like shots," Carson said in a KENS 5 interview. Clay believes the attack occurred because he was not driving fast enough, which apparently agitated a driver of a dark-colored sedan.

Following the incident, the family discovered three bullets lodged in a tire and the ominous metal piece that had come to graze Carson's leg. "You're thinking you're just hitting a car, but you hit a kid!" Clay shared his disbelief with KENS 5. This incident is part of a disturbing pattern, as four out of the six recent road rage incidents in San Antonio have concluded in violence.

Community Alliance for Traffic Safety disclosed a 2023 study revealing that San Antonio experiences 10 road rage incidents per 1,000 drivers—significantly higher than Houston and Dallas, which report only four per 1,000, according to KENS 5 findings. As the Carabajal family waits for the police to find the person who attacked them, they hope to pass a message of restraint to other drivers. "We have to calm down this anger," stressed Clay. "I don’t want to see another kid like him crying because a bullet grazed his leg and he’s bleeding."

Learning a tough lesson far too early, Carson offers advice that all motorists might take to heart. "Stay calm," Carson advised. "If you ever get angry, just wait till you get home and take your anger out on something else." With law enforcement officers advising motorists to minimize their use of horns so as to prevent violent encounters on the road, calling for cooler heads seems more necessary than ever.