El Paso police homicide detectives continue to work to piece together what led to a deadly “road rage” shooting last week on the Patriot Freeway.
The man shot and killed during the highway confrontation was publicly identified as Agustin Avila, 45, of northeast El Paso, by officers on Thursday, May 30.
On the day of the shooting, a police spokesperson said a 38-year-old man had been arrested in connection with the shooting, but since then no arrests have been announced. The man’s name has not been released and it is unclear whether he has been charged.
Detectives with the Crimes Against Persons Unit continue to investigate the homicide, officials said Thursday.
More than a week after the daytime highway shooting, El Paso police officials have yet to release more details about the deadly public shooting on U.S. 54 on the afternoon of May 22.
El Paso man killed in ‘road rage’ shooting on Patriot Freeway
At approximately 3:11 p.m. on May 22, police received several 911 calls reporting a shooting involving motorists in the northbound lanes of US 54.
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The vehicles eventually stopped at 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 spokesperson said the shooting was being treated as “a road rage incident.”
It remains unclear how investigators believe the confrontation began or the sequence of events leading up to the shooting and afterward.
Why is it called Patriot Freeway?
The north-south highway of US 54 is called the Patriot Freeway because it runs from central to northeast El Paso, across from part of Fort Bliss.
The Patriot Freeway was named in 1991 after the Gulf War victory in recognition of the U.S. Army’s Patriot anti-missile air defense system from Fort Bliss, which gained worldwide fame as the “Scudbusters” during the 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 Highway Safety found that 9 in 10 respondents believed aggressive drivers posed a “somewhat” or “very serious” threat to safety.
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The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety recommends three guiding principles for avoiding road rage. They are:
Don’t offend: Avoid driving behaviors that could irritate other drivers, such as cutting off other drivers, driving too slowly in the left lane, tail-jumping, and gesturing.
“Almost nothing angers a driver more than an obscene gesture,” said AAA, which recommends being a safe and courteous driver.
Do not commit: Stay out of the way and give angry drivers space. Avoid eye contact. If a driver follows you and tries to start a fight, call the police.
Adjust your attitude: Forget winning, driving is not 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 ‘road rage’ shooting on US 54 identified
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