El Paso police homicide detectives continue working to piece together what lead up to a fatal “road rage” shooting last week on the Patriot Freeway.
The man shot and killed in the freeway confrontation was publicly identified as Agustin Avila, 45, of Northeast El Paso, by police officials on Thursday, May 30.
A police spokesman, on the day of the shooting, said that a 38-year-old man had been detained in connection with the shooting, but since then, no arrests have been announced. The man’s name was not disclosed and it is unclear if he has been charged.
Detectives with the Crimes Against Persons Unit continue investigating the homicide, officials said Thursday.
More than a week since the daytime roadway shooting, El Paso police officials have yet to disclose further details on the deadly public gunplay on U.S. 54 on the afternoon of May 22.
El Paso man killed in Patriot Freeway ‘road rage’ shooting
About 3:11 p.m. on May 22, police received several 911 calls reporting a shooting involving motorists on the northbound lanes of U.S. 54.
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The vehicles ended up stopping on the Fred Wilson exit just north of the Cassidy Gate entrance to Fort Bliss. Avila was taken to a hospital, where he died, police said.
A police spokesman said that the shooting was believed to be “a road rage incident.”
It remains undisclosed how investigators believe the confrontation started and the sequence of events leading up to the shooting and afterward.
Why is it named the Patriot Freeway?
The north-south U.S. 54 highway is named the Patriot Freeway as it runs from Central to Northeast El Paso in front of a portion of Fort Bliss.
The Patriot Freeway was named in 1991 following the Gulf War victory in recognition of the U.S. Army’s Patriot missile air-defense system from Fort Bliss, which gained worldwide fame as “Scudbusters” during Operation Desert Storm following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
How to avoid road rage
A more than decade-old survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 9 in 10 respondents felt that aggressive drivers were a “somewhat” or “very serious” threat to safety.
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The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety recommends three guiding principles to avoid road rage. They are:
Don’t offend: Avoid driving behaviors that may anger other drivers, such as cutting off other drivers, driving too slow on the left lane, tailgaiting and making gestures.
“Almost nothing makes another driver angrier than an obscene gesture,” AAA stated, which recommends being a cautious and courteous driver.
Don’t engage: Steer clear and give angry drivers room. Avoid eye contact. If a driver is following you trying to start a fight, call police.
Adjust your attitude: Forget winning, driving isn’t a game. Put yourself in the other driver’s shoes. If you have an anger problem, seek help.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso man killed in US 54 freeway ‘road rage’ shooting identified
