SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police are investigating yet another case of road rage-related violence after a 17-year-old driver was shot in the face on Tuesday.
>>>Teen shot in face during road rage shooting on Highway 90, SAPD says
Police said the teen was behind the wheel of his car, heading west on Highway 90, not far from Loop 1604, when another driver took aim at him.
A preliminary report said the victim told investigators that he tried to use his cell phone to record the person who shot him, but the shooter got away.
The teen was taken to a local hospital by an ambulance.
Although SAPD does not record numbers for road rage cases, TheTXLoop 12 News archives show this is at least the eleventh violent incident on the roads so far this year.
That includes three deadly road rage shootings.
The violence has other drivers trying to make sense of the chaos.
“People are not always sure where the exits and entrances are, and they tend to cut you off then,” said Anita Johnson-Flores, who believes road construction plays a big part in the problems.
“Our next excursion, we’re going to park at the Park & Ride and just ride downtown,” she said.
Others, meanwhile, blame bad tempers for the trouble.
“I think people are just really stressed out right now. There’s a lot of anger out there, and people don’t really know what to do with it,” said Crit Kennedy, in part. “You see people pull out guns in their windows and they’re flashing them.”
Kennedy, who works as a local firefighter, says he often witnesses the result of road rage firsthand.
He said even when guns are not involved, the results can be devastating. In many cases, he said, cars involved in rolling disputes end with crashes.
“People just get reactionary. I wish you could just tell everybody to be a defensive driver and try to be careful and safe,” Kennedy said.
Another driver, Lorenzo Martinez, said he believes drivers tend to become aggressive and act out when they somehow feel threatened or challenged.
“It’s just, like, they perceive it as an insult to themselves. They take it very (personally), Martinez said. “They see red and they just act.”
All the drivers who spoke to TheTXLoop 12 News said it appears that the number of these violent incidents in and around San Antonio is on the rise.
A recent study, conducted jointly by the University of Texas at San Antonio and the Community Alliance for Traffic Safety, appears to confirm this.
It also shows that the overwhelming majority of aggressive drivers, 89%, are males.
“It’s very dangerous on our roads right now because there’s a lot of criminal behavior manifesting on the roads,” said Dean DeSoto, the owner of the Community Alliance for Traffic Safety.
The advice from experts such as DeSoto is to avoid conflict at all costs.
Martinez, who often drives his young daughter around, said he makes it a point to remain peaceful.
“You just let it go,” he said. “If they need to pass, let them pass. It’s not that big of a deal.”
Copyright 2025 by TheTXLoop – All rights reserved.