A road-rage confrontation escalated into gunfire in the Cypress area, and Harris County Precinct 4 investigators say one man is now in custody as a result. The trouble began as a road-rage incident on Highway 290 at around 3 p.m., near the intersection of Cypress Mill Place Boulevard and the Northwest Freeway.
According to investigators with Precinct 4, the encounter started as an altercation between two men on the roadway. It escalated to the point that both drivers stopped their cars, got out at the intersection, and began fighting one another right there in the middle of the road as traffic moved around them.
At first, the confrontation appeared to be winding down. Once the physical fight was over, police say, both men went back to get into their vehicles, and for a moment it looked as though the two would simply drive away from the scene without any further trouble.
Instead, the situation turned potentially deadly. Investigators say one of the drivers produced a handgun and opened fire, striking the other man's vehicle. Despite gunshots on a busy Northwest Freeway service road, no one was hit by the gunfire and no innocent bystanders were hurt in the exchange.
The law enforcement response was fast. Deputies said they arrived within seconds of the 911 calls and caught up with both men just down the road, stopping them a short distance from where the shooting had happened before either could get far from the scene.
One of the men, described by police as the gunman, has since been taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault. Investigators with Precinct 4 were continuing to work the scene along the Highway 290 service road as they pieced together exactly how a road-rage encounter turned into gunfire.