Deadly road rage shootings hit record high in 2021, data suggests
CBSN
The murder of 6-year-old Aiden Leos sent shockwaves through his California community. Aiden was in the back seat of his mother's car on his way to kindergarten on May 21, 2021 when, prosecutors say, Marcus Eriz became enraged at allegedly being cut off. Eriz is accused of opening fire from a moving vehicle, killing Aiden, before fleeing.
Aiden was one of 522 people killed or injured in road rage shootings in the U.S. in 2021, according to statistics compiled by the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety and released Monday. Amid the pandemic, road rage violence has not only increased, but become drastically more deadly, according to the data.
In terms of both the total number of shootings, and the deadliness of those incidents, 2021 was by far the worst year since Everytown began tracking road rage statistics. Of the nation's 728 road rage incidents involving a gun in 2021, nearly two-thirds, 62%, led to an injury or death; 131 people were killed.