At a glance: Road rage attacks against children in the Houston area

Monday, February 8, 2021

Road rage shooting critically injures 9-year-old girl"(They) pulled up very fast, really quickly next to the father. Someone in that vehicle extended a gun outside a window and fired multiple shots into the family's vehicle," said Ja

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Friday night's shooting involving a 9-year-old girl near Katy was just the latest in a disturbing trend of road rage incidents involving innocent children.

There have been at least five road rage attacks on children in the last five months across the Houston region.

On January 19th, a man shot at a car with a woman and 5 children inside in League City. Fortunately no one was hit.

On January 8th, a 15-year-old girl was shot in the arm on the Katy Freeway. She survived.

On November 16, a 14-year-old girl was shot multiple times and nearly killed because of a traffic altercation in north Houston.

On August 28, an 8-year-old boy in the car with his family grabbing dinner was shot in southeast Houston.

According to Houston police, there were 200 road rage incidents involving shootings in 2020 compared to 150 incidents in 2019, a 33% increase that included 6 murders.

On December 9th, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo announced the formation of a new road rage task force, a partnership between HPD, the Harris County Sheriff's Office, Texas DPS and the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

WATCH: HPD announces new partnership to combat road rage

HPD Chief Art Acevedo said there have been 200 shootings this year alone and six of those have led to murder charges. So what's he doing to make the roads safer? Hear the answer.

One of the most notorious cases of a child nearly killed in a road rage attack happened in May 2019. A father was traveling along the feeder of the Southwest Freeway near Gessner with his 2 young children when he accidentally cut someone off and tried to apologize, authorities said. The other driver pulled out a gun and shot into the back of the father's car. A bullet hit his son, 1-year-old Brandon Ross, in the upper shoulder. His dad pulled into a gas station and bystanders helped. A nurse applied pressure to the toddler's shoulder wound. He spent several days in the hospital.

AAA recommends that if you find yourself in a road rage situation, don't respond. Don't make eye contact, gestures or anything along those lines. Also, maintain space around your car and call 911 if you think the confrontation is escalating.

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