A 58-year-old man is facing two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after Duncanville police say he fired a single round into another driver's vehicle during a road rage encounter on Interstate 20 last month, striking the driver in the face. Detectives and SWAT officers took Reo Bowman Jr. into custody without incident on Tuesday morning after executing a search warrant in Duncanville.
According to the Duncanville Police Department, officers responded to a shooting with injuries in the 600 block of East Interstate 20 on July 28. Investigators say Bowman fired one round at a vehicle occupied by two people before fleeing westbound on the highway. The driver was struck by gunfire and taken to Central Methodist Hospital with a gunshot wound to the face, while the passenger was not injured. The driver was later released from the hospital after treatment for what police described as non-life-threatening injuries.
Police say the investigation that followed included evidence collection, witness interviews, and the use of Flock automated license plate reader cameras to identify and follow up on multiple leads, ultimately pointing detectives to Bowman as the alleged shooter. Duncanville expanded its ALPR network after receiving grant funding from the Texas Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority in 2022, according to the Atlas of Surveillance. Unlike neighboring cities such as Dallas and Irving, which have seen intentional vandalism against Flock cameras, Duncanville has reported zero incidents of deliberate camera damage, per a regional law enforcement report cited by WFAA.
Detectives and SWAT Team Make the Arrest
Detectives and Duncanville SWAT officers took Bowman into custody at 8:37 a.m. Tuesday during a targeted search warrant execution, according to Focus Daily News. The Duncanville SWAT unit that assisted has previously been highlighted for its role in the department's tactical response capabilities, as Hoodline reported in an earlier profile of the unit. Bowman now faces two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony.
The department commended the patrol officers, detectives, and SWAT officers involved in the case, and reiterated in its release that individuals who endanger others' lives will be brought to justice. It's not yet publicly known what bond amount or court date has been set for Bowman in Dallas County, and it remains unclear whether the firearm used in the shooting was recovered during the search warrant execution.
What the Charges Could Mean for Bowman
Under Texas Penal Code § 22.02, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, according to legal reference materials from Varghese Summersett. Because the case involves a deadly weapon finding, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 42A.054 bars a judge from granting regular probation — court-ordered supervision would only be possible if a jury recommends it for a sentence of 10 years or less, per the same legal source.
The charges stayed at the second-degree level, rather than escalating to a first-degree felony reserved for shootings into occupied vehicles that cause serious bodily injury, because the driver's gunshot wound was deemed non-life-threatening, according to an explainer from Flatiron Legal Advisors. Texas Penal Code § 1.07 defines a deadly weapon broadly as any firearm or object capable, in the manner of its use, of causing death or serious bodily injury.
Part of a Broader Pattern on Texas Roads
The shooting adds to a troubling statewide trend. Research from Everytown for Gun Safety found that road rage shootings involving firearms more than doubled nationwide between 2018 and 2023, with Texas consistently ranking among the states with the highest rates of road rage firearm injuries and deaths. The Texas Department of Transportation recorded 2,510 road rage-related vehicular incidents statewide in 2022 alone, according to data compiled by the Ramsey Law Group.
Interstate 20 through Duncanville functions as a major east-west commuter and freight corridor in southern Dallas County, an area where TxDOT has carried out large highway improvement projects that periodically require lane detours near Duncanville Road and Main Street, according to the City of Duncanville. Heavy traffic and construction-related slowdowns on major arteries like I-20 are among the conditions that can heighten driver frustration.
