Nashville driver killed by concrete chunk thrown from overpass: Police

AP logo
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Driver killed when someone threw chunk of concrete from overpass
Driver killed when someone threw chunk of concrete from overpass

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Police in Tennessee believe someone threw a chunk of concrete from a highway overpass, killing a driver who was on his way to work.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department says 54-year-old Joe C. Shelton Jr. was killed when the concrete came through his front windshield and hit him in the face. The incident happened just before 5 a.m. Tuesday while Shelton was driving on Interstate 24 near downtown Nashville. Shelton was travelling from his home in Pleasant View to his job at a Nissan plant in Smyrna.

Tennessee Transportation Department bridge inspectors determined the concrete was not part of the nearby Shelby Avenue Bridge. They say the chunk more closely resembles a roadway curb.

Police believe the chunk was thrown from the bridge and are reviewing available surveillance footage of the area.

RELATED: Plywood flies through windshield narrowly missing driver

Driver walks away uninjured after plywood impales windshield