GLENDALE, AZ — A man is in the hospital after being shot in a road rage situation in Glendale, police say.
The incident happened around 3 p.m near 63rd and Peoria avenues.
Police say a suspect shot the man after some sort of altercation occurred.
The victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police say.
Detectives are working to determine what led up to the shooting.
This is the second road rage incident on Wednesday in the West Valley. Around 7 a.m., police were called to the area of 91st Avenue and Happy Valley Road for reports of a shooting.
According to Peoria police, the driver of a Honda got in front of a Dodge Charger and stopped abruptly. The driver of the Charger got out of their vehicle and confronted the Honda driver at their window. An argument took place and the driver of the Honda shot the other driver in the leg.
Alberto Gutier, the Director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, says egging heated drivers on is never a good idea.
"If somebody challenges you, if somebody cuts you (off), all of a sudden you see them aggressively trying to create an incident, pull to the side of the road," he told ABC15.
Gutier says these incidents, involving aggressive drivers, are happening more often in recent years.
“We had 267 incidents reported of road rage in 2018. In 2019 it was 520. In 2020, with the pandemic, we still had 503,” he added.
Already this year, there are nearly 460 road rage incidents reported.
"Based on the numbers that I'm seeing, we may beat last year's number of incidents. There's a lot of tempers, and people trying to get to places, what's the hurry?” Gutier told ABC15.
Maria Wojtczak is the owner of DrivingMBA, where they use simulated training for new drivers. This is what she tells her students to do if they find themselves faced with an aggressive driver.
"Stay aware of what's going on, see what people are doing around you and if you see something that's crazy, stay behind the problem," she added.
If a driver is trying to challenge you on the road:
"Let it go," Gutier told ABC15.
