A bout of road rage culminated with an angry driver firing two gunshots into another man's car Thursday night on Highway 101 in San Jose, missing him by just inches, authorities say.
No one was injured in the shooting, but the incident serves as a reminder that drivers should avoid provoking or engaging other motorists over traffic disputes, California Highway Patrol Officer Ross Lee said.
At 10:11 p.m. Thursday, the driver of a red Saab called the CHP to report shots fired at his car as he drove northbound on Highway 101 south of Interstate Highway 880 north of downtown San Jose, CHP Officer Ross Lee said.
The male driver told arriving officers that he had been driving north on Highway 101 from Gilroy on his way to his home in Berkeley when, at a point near San Jose, the driver of a black Hyundai coupe made an unsafe lane change in front of him, Lee said.
The Saab driver responded by pulling up beside the Hyundai and making a rude hand gesture to express his annoyance about the lane change, Lee said.
The two drivers then exchanged brake checks — driving in front of each other and hitting the brakes, forcing the other driver to use his brakes — and hand gestures for what the victim said was about 20 minutes, according to Lee.
Then at a point one or two miles south of the interstate, the Saab driver heard two pop sounds, pulled over and noticed a pair of bullet holes in his car's passenger door.
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The victim was not able to offer much of a description of the Hyundai driver and could only provide two or three digits of the person's license plate number.
One of the bullets remained lodged in the passenger door, but the other penetrated the door, continued into the car's interior center console and lodged in the right side of the driver's seat, missing the victim's back or side by inches, Lee said.
The CHP closed traffic on nearly 2 miles of northbound Highway 101 from the McKee Road on ramp to I-880 to search for shell casings, but found none, according to Lee.
The victim later proceeded to his home in Berkeley, Lee said
The shooting remains under investigation and officers plan to interview the driver again, but so far no other witnesses have come forward, he said.
