Road Rage Incident in Vegas Ends With Dead 11-Year-Old

An 11-year-old boy was fatally shot on Friday morning during a road rage confrontation on a crowded freeway near Sin City, according to local police. The incident occurred around 7:30am on Interstate 215 in Henderson, a city just southeast of Las Vegas, when two vehicles "jockeying for positions" escalated things into a heated exchange, police say, per NBC News. One driver, identified as 22-year-old Tyler Matthew Johns, allegedly fired a single shot into the other car, striking the child who was seated in the back, per Henderson Police Chief Reggie Rader.

Authorities say the boy's stepfather then slammed his vehicle into Johns' car, bringing both vehicles to a halt. A Las Vegas police officer happened to be nearby and was flagged down, after which Johns was arrested at the scene. He faces charges of open murder and firing a gun into a vehicle. Police say Johns was the only person involved in the incident who was armed. "An 11-year-old was on his way to school, and this senseless act took his life," Rader says, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I need everybody to be patient on our roadways." Johns is being held at the Henderson Detention Center on $20,000 bond, per jail records seen by People.