11-Year-Old Boy Killed in Road Rage Shooting While His Stepfather Drove Him to School: Police By Amy McCarthy

An 11-year-old Nevada boy is dead after a road rage incident that occurred while the boy’s stepfather was driving him to school.

At a press conference on Friday, Nov. 14, the Henderson Police Department said that the shooting occurred at around 7:30 a.m. that day, when the drivers of two vehicles became involved in a “verbal exchange” after one vehicle attempted to pass the other on the shoulder.

Following the exchange, a 22-year-old suspect, whom the Henderson Police Department identified to PEOPLE as Tyler Matthew Johns, fired a single shot from a handgun into the vehicle, which struck the boy, who was sitting in the back seat of the vehicle.

After the shooting, police say that the boy’s stepfather “rammed” the suspect’s vehicle with his car, causing both to stop in the middle of the freeway. Both stepped out of their vehicles, and got in a “heated exchange,” per police.

A police officer was hailed down by an unspecified individual, who later took the suspect into custody, the spokesperson said in the press conference. Emergency personnel and medical professionals at a nearby hospital rendered aid to the boy, but despite their “best efforts,” he succumbed to his injuries.

Homicide detectives arrived on the scene and arrested the suspect on charges of open murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, police said.

Jail records viewed by PEOPLE show that Johns is currently being held in the Henderson Detention Center on $20,000 bond.

In a statement posted to its Facebook page, the Henderson Police Department described the incident as a “senseless act.”

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“Tonight, we’re asking our community to slow down, stay patient, and show restraint behind the wheel,” the post reads. “As we enter the holiday season, we often see an increase in crashes and dangerous driving behaviors across the valley — but tragedies like this are preventable. It starts with all of us.”

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The incident is still under investigation, and anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the Henderson Police Department.