America’s roads are more dangerous than ever after a shocking increase in violence in some unlikely states, including Washington and Indiana.
Federal data obtained and analyzed by Today in the US it turns out that the number of highway shootings has increased by more than half across the country in the past five years.
Such incidents do not only occur in densely populated areas. These outbreaks of violence also raise concerns in other communities, especially since the shooters often flee before the police arrive.
U.S. Attorney Alexander MM Uballez believes road rage incidents reflect a societal divide. He argues that people often lack empathy for others on the road, leading to tragic consequences.
“A lot of times people don’t see the person in the other car as another person (or) as someone from their environment because they’re so overwhelmed by a moment of anger,” he told USA Today.
The number of highway shootings has increased significantly in recent years in the United States
In a recent shooting in Kentucky, 32-year-old Army veteran Joseph Couch opened fire on vehicles, wounding five people
Recently, a shooting on a Kentucky highway captured the nation’s attention.
A two-week manhunt for a suspect who opened fire on vehicles in Kentucky ended abruptly Wednesday. Army veteran Joseph Couch, 32, fired at motorists on Interstate 75 near London on Sept. 7, wounding five people.
The attack, which involved an AR-style rifle purchased hours before the shooting, sparked a massive search.
A YouTuber couple, Fred and Sheila McCoy, accidentally discovered the suspect’s decomposing body while livestreaming their search in the Daniel Boone National Forest. They had seen vultures circling in a certain area and decided to investigate.
The Kentucky highway shooting wasn’t the only shooting that sparked national outrage.
Just five days before the Kentucky shootings, on Labor Day night in Washington state, a gunman wounded six people in a series of attacks along Interstate 5 outside Seattle. He hit about 10 cars and left two people in critical condition with gunshot wounds to their necks and chests.
The shooting on Washington’s I-5 is not an isolated incident. The number of reported shootings on the state’s highways increased by more than 55 percent between 2019 and 2023 (from 602 to 937).
The number of cases in which motorists threatened other drivers with their weapons increased by 35 percent over the same period.
The couch was found by YouTuber couple Fred and Sheila McCoy, who accidentally discovered the suspect’s decomposing body during a livestream of their search in the Daniel Boone National Forest
Nicholas Karol-Chik (left), Zachary Kwak (center) and Joseph Koenig (right) are accused of inciting a rock-throwing spree in the Denver area that left 20-year-old Alexa Bartell dead.
According to data from Chris Loftis, communications director for the Washington State Patrol, a quarter of highway violence is the result of gang violence, including robberies and domestic disputes.
Loftis told USA Today that the increase in shootings can be directly linked to more guns in circulation and more people driving on the highways. He said, “More cars mean more potential for conflicts on the road, and more guns mean more potential for those conflicts to be deadly.”
From 2024 onwards, the number of reported shootings is expected to surpass the previous record of 1,058, set in 2022.
Most of the shootings in Washington occur on Interstate 5 between Seattle and Tacoma.
Days before the Kentucky shooting, a driver with unknown motives randomly shot nearly a dozen people, including a family with two young children.
Eric Jerome Lee Sentell Perkins was charged with five counts of assault for the attacks, which took place on 25 miles of highway in two counties.
The recent series of shootings is the second such incident in Washington state in a year.
Last December, state police arrested a driver suspected of being responsible for six shootings that occurred within a few hours.
Indiana is also among the states where the number of highway shootings has increased dramatically.
According to Sergeant John Perrine of the Indiana State Police, the number of shootings on Indiana highways has been increasing for years due to road rage.
In 2023, there were 56 shootings and 230 reports of gun violence on Indianapolis-area freeways. Those numbers continue to climb in 2024, with 54 shootings and 300 reports of gun violence.
The incidents on highways across the country are not exclusively related to gun violence.
Multiple shootings have occurred on Interstate 5 in Washington state, resulting in injuries and property damage
Pictured: Alex Bartell, 20, was on the phone to a friend when a rock hit her car and she went silent. Her friend tracked her phone and drove to the scene to find her dead in her car, which had left the road and ended up in a field.
In April, three Colorado teenagers accused of killing a 20-year-old woman by throwing a large rock through her windshield pleaded not guilty to the murder.
Alexa Bartell, 20, was killed when Joseph Koenig, Nicholas “Mitch” Karol-Chik and Zachary Kwak, all 18, threw a rock at her car in Arvada, Colorado on April 19, 2023.
The teens appeared in Jefferson County Superior Court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder with extreme indifference. Koenig also faces four new charges of attempted murder and assault stemming from a separate rock-throwing incident.
Prosecutors say the men threw large rocks into the yard that night, hitting six other cars. The other drivers were not injured.
Bartell was on the phone with a friend when a rock hit her car and she went silent. Her friend tracked her phone and drove to the location to find her dead in her car, which had run off the road and into a field.