Gary Man, 37, Charged in I-94 Ramp Shooting That Snarled Chicago Traffic

A 37-year-old Gary, Indiana man is facing attempted murder charges after Illinois State Police say he fired a gun at another driver during a road rage encounter on a Chicago expressway ramp late last year, leaving the victim with a graze wound and sending traffic into chaos during evening rush hour. Anthony T. Pointer was taken into custody on August 21, capping an eight-month investigation into the shooting on the Stony Island feeder ramp leading to southbound I-94.

According to FOX 32 Chicago, the shooting happened on the Stony Island ramp on December 12, 2025, when a road rage incident escalated into gunfire on the expressway ramp, per Illinois State Police. The victim was taken to an area hospital after suffering a graze wound. Hoodline's own reporting at the time, in earlier coverage of the ramp shooting, detailed how the Friday evening incident, which occurred around 4:33 p.m., prompted state troopers to shut down nearby entrance ramps from East 103rd Street and South Stony Island Avenue, causing major gridlock as investigators worked the scene.

Investigation Led State Police to Gary

An Illinois State Police investigation identified Pointer as the suspect behind the gunfire, though the agency has not said what specifically sparked the road rage that led to the shooting, according to the same Fox 32 report. Pointer was charged with two Class X felonies: attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm. He remains in custody, and his first court appearance is scheduled for Friday.

The case adds to a pattern of similar expressway shooting arrests across the Chicago area this year, including the Illinois State Police Division of Criminal Investigation Zone 1's announcement that it arrested two Chicago men on attempted murder charges following a separate road rage shooting on Interstate 290 on August 17. Zone 1 special agents are the unit tasked with managing criminal investigations tied to shootings on Cook County's expressways.

A Record Not Free of Prior Run-Ins

Pointer's arrest record shows two earlier brushes with the law tied to weapons and fugitive charges. He was arrested in March 2026 on a fugitive from justice and out-of-state warrant charge, and he was previously arrested in September 2018 on a charge of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in a vehicle.

Under Illinois law, both attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm are Class X felonies, meaning a conviction would carry a mandatory prison sentence of 6 to 30 years with no possibility of probation, according to Glozman Law. That mandatory sentencing framework underscores the legal stakes Pointer now faces in Cook County court.

Expressway Shootings Down, But Road Rage Persists

The arrest comes even as expressway gun violence has trended downward across Illinois. The Illinois State Police reported in January that interstate shootings statewide fell 31 percent in 2025 compared to 2024, marking four consecutive years of declines and, notably, zero fatal interstate shootings for the first time in roughly a decade, according to the Illinois State Police. The agency has also pointed to expanded automated license plate reader deployment across Cook County expressways, technology that by 2024 was assisting investigators in identifying suspects or witnesses in 82 percent of all interstate shootings statewide.

State police have separately stepped up enforcement aimed at aggressive driving, announcing in early August that Special Operations Groups had deployed extra patrols across the Chicago area during the first half of 2026 specifically to curb road rage and aggressive driving. The agency launched a statewide “Road Rage. Don't Engage.” campaign back in January 2023 urging drivers never to tailgate, make gestures, or stop to confront aggressive motorists.

Research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, cited by WJBC AM 1230, found that nearly 80 percent of U.S. drivers admit to engaging in aggressive driving behavior themselves, while roughly half report experiencing it from other motorists. Common triggers include tailgating, improper lane changes, and failing to yield, behaviors that authorities say can escalate quickly on crowded expressway ramps like the one on Stony Island.

What exactly set off the confrontation that ended in gunfire on the Stony Island ramp remains unclear, and Illinois State Police have not disclosed that detail publicly. Pointer's first court appearance Friday is expected to be the next step in a case that, for now, still leaves that central question unanswered.