An 11-year-old Nevada boy being driven to school by his stepdad was shot dead by a gun-toting maniac during a horrifying road-rage attack on a jam-packed freeway Friday morning, authorities said.
Tyler Matthew Johns, 22, was busted after he allegedly fired one fatal shot that struck the young boy seated in the back seat of the small hybrid SUV during the heated clash around 7:30 a.m. on Interstate 215 in Henderson, 16 miles south of Las Vegas, according to the Henderson Police Department.
“We lost a life today that we didn’t have to lose,” Police Chief Reggie Rader told reporters Friday.
“An 11-year-old boy was on his way to school, and this senseless act took his life. I need everybody to be patient on our roadways. We have an obligation to look out for each other.”
Rader said the deadly confrontation began when the two hotheaded drivers started jockeying for a lane after merging, weaving past each other on the congested freeway, also known as the Las Vegas Beltway.
One car swerved past the other on the shoulder, prompting both drivers to roll down their windows and scream at each other before Johns allegedly pulled a handgun and opened fire on the victim’s car.
The child’s stepfather then rammed into the accused gunman’s four-door sedan, forcing both vehicles to stop in the middle of the road — where both men jumped out and erupted into another explosive altercation, Rader said.
A passing Las Vegas cop broke up the fight and hauled the suspect into custody.
Life-saving measures were performed on the unidentified boy, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Johns was charged with open murder and discharging a firearm into a vehicle, police said.
He is being held at Henderson Detention Center on a $20,000 bond, jail records show.
“The holidays are coming up and we usually have congestion and tempers run high,” Rader stressed, adding, “It is not worth it to engage in this type of behavior — on either party.”
“I would rather you be stuck in traffic and late for your destination than have to go to a funeral for a loved one or potentially spend the rest of your life in prison,” he added.
“We have to do better as a city, we have to do better as a community, and we have to do better as human beings because we can’t allow this to continue to happen.”
