2 highway shootings within minutes, miles of each other makes it 9 in 2024
Feb 6, 2024, 11:50 AM | Updated: 12:05 pm
First responders respond to a highway shooting Feb. 6 (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
The dramatic rise in shootings on our freeways continues.
The Washington State Patrol (WSP) stated, so far in 2024, there have been nine confirmed shootings on highways in King County, including two on Monday.
Troopers said a taxi was hit by gunfire on Interstate 5 and Interurban Avenue in Tukwila Monday afternoon. The driver was not hurt in the incident.
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Approximately 10 minutes later, a passenger inside a BMW on Interstate 5 south near State Route 520 suffered minor injuries from shards of glass after a bullet went through the driver’s side window glass. Investigators believed the shootings were unrelated.
The region is on pace to surpass 2023’s number of freeway shootings.
“Last year I believe we ended with 57 (shootings). The year before, 55,” Trooper Rick Johnson told KIRO Newsradio.
That only includes confirmed shootings on freeways in King County, so the number could be even higher.
“It’s hard to say,” Johnson said on why there’s been such an increase. “I mean we’d love to have an exact answer on all of this, honestly. Every shooting has its own anatomy as far as the cases facts.”
And although some of the shootings may be targeted, others might be cases of road rage.
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Johnson said one of last year’s victims admitted that he confronted a vehicle that was tailgating him.
“He pulled over and let the vehicle pass, got in behind the vehicle, flashed his brights, pulled up next to that vehicle, game him a hand ‘sign’ and the driver of the other vehicle shot at his vehicle,” Johnson added. “We really, really want to stress to people not to engage with an aggressive driver because you don’t know what that other driver is capable of doing.”
Heather Bosch is an award-winning anchor and reporter on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of her stories here. Follow Heather on X, formerly known as Twitter, or email her here.
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