‘Aggressive’ driver gunned down after brake checking and chasing couple, TX cops say

An “aggressive” driver’s highway harassment spree ended with him shot and handcuffed, but not by police, Texas officials told news outlets.

On the night of Friday, Jan. 17, Houston police say the driver of a pickup truck was behaving recklessly on Loop 610, weaving from lane-to-lane and endangering traffic, KRIV reported. However, for reasons that aren’t clear, the driver — identified as a man in his 40s — decided to focus his attention on one car in particular, police said.

There was a couple in that car: a man in his early 20s and his pregnant girlfriend in the passenger seat, police told KPRC.

Video taken as evidence shows the truck swerving in front of the couple, repeatedly brake checking them and stopping on the highway, KPRC reported.

They took an exit ramp to try to get away from the truck, but the driver followed and catches them at a red light, according to KPRC.

“The truck gets next to him at the light, rolls the window down and starts yelling at him and his female friend who’s pregnant,” Lt. R. Willkens told the news outlet.

The couple continued trying to escape the man, but he wouldn’t let them, and he eventually confronted them, police said.

“The truck actually goes the wrong way … through traffic, gets in front of the car, swerves, locks up the brakes, pulls in front of him and blocks him and jumps out of his car, running up to the car with his hands around his pocket,” Willkens told KPRC.

The man in the car was afraid the driver was going to hurt or kill him and his girlfriend, he told police, KHOU reported. Whatever the truck driver intended, the man in the car didn’t wait to find out. He pulled out a gun and opened fire through the windshield, gunning the man down as he approached, according to police.

The other driver then got out of his car and handcuffed the man, later telling police he carries handcuffs because he used to work as a security guard, the outlet reported. Police said the truck driver was shot in the torso, an arm and leg, and was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive.

While the truck driver is considered a victim in this case, he’s “more of a suspect, really,” Willkens told KHOU, describing the other driver’s actions as “self-defense.”

No charges have been filed against either driver.

This story was originally published January 20, 2025 at 2:36 PM with the headline "‘Aggressive’ driver gunned down after brake checking and chasing couple, TX cops say."