The Newburgh Heights Police Department is urgently seeking a suspect following a road rage incident that led to shots being fired on Interstate 77. The event, which unfolded on Wednesday morning around 9 a.m., began when two vehicles were engaged in an aggressive encounter in the northbound lanes of I-77 near the intersection with I-480. Cleveland.com reported that the confrontation escalated significantly north of the Harvard Road exit, where a female driving a silver Ford Fusion allegedly discharged a firearm at another driver.
As recollected by Newburgh Heights Police Chief John Majoy in an interview with Cleveland19, "Apparently, one vehicle cut off the other vehicle don’t know which one, but it ended up with some break checking and ended up with higher speeds than normal and when they reached the Harvard exit they were still northbound on I-77, a female driving a silver Ford Fusion shot out the passenger side window and it struck the driver of the other vehicle." Authorities are now on the hunt for the Ford Fusion and have released images to help identify the suspect vehicle.
The male victim, aged 30, was struck but fortunately sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was treated and released from a local hospital. A 2-year-old child was also present in the victim's car during the ordeal but was unharmed. "There was a 2-year-old child in the backseat of the vehicle and I’m told by investigators that had the driver been seated or positioned differently that the round potentially could have struck the child which makes it all the worse what it is now," Majoy mentioned, as reported by Cleveland19.
Police are seeking assistance from the public and have stated that the traffic density on I-77 can provide potential leads from eyewitness accounts. "In cases like this, we really need the public’s help. That road is heavily traveled; there are 120,000 cars that go through there each day, so if you saw something, please say something," Majoy stressed in a statement to FOX8. The department is also looking into camera footage from the Ohio Department of Transportation as well as license plate readers to track down the assailant, who could face a multitude of charges, including attempted murder.
The suspect is described as a heavy-set African American woman in her 30's with braids and wearing a durag, traveling alone at the time of the incident. Newburgh Heights police are encouraging anyone with information or dashcam footage to come forward and assist in the investigation. Witnesses or those with any relevant information can contact the Newburgh Heights Police at 216-641-5545. While the shooter remains at large, this violent escalation serves as a reminder for drivers to maintain composure on the road and refrain from aggressive responses to traffic disputes.
