After being shot in the head during a road rage incident in Arlington Monday night, Kyle Johnson spent the next couple of days at home battling agonizing headaches, ringing in his ears and general fear and confusion.
Johnson said he was driving home with his wife and 3-year-old twins when he upset another driver while trying to change lanes in a traffic jam on Interstate 20.
“I was in the center lane trying to get over to the right and I might’ve gotten too close to this guy or cut him off by accident. He got upset and started flashing his lights,” said Johnson.
That’s when Johnson said the other driver tried to pass him on the shoulder, clipping his mirror and sideswiping the family’s car.
At that point, both drivers made it to the shoulder. Johnson said he thought they were just exchanging information. But before he could open his door, the other driver was at his window.
“Next thing I know he tries to basically kill me. He grabbed a gun out of his pocket or back waist band. I see a silver gun come up. As soon as I saw that I knew something bad was going to happen,” said Johnson.
The next few moments he can describe as only silent and black. In a quick reaction Johnson turned his head away from the gunman, so the bullet only grazed his head rather than heading straight for his brain.
“Once I collected myself, I look up through the windshield, he’s getting up and driving off in his car. My wife is screaming at the top of her lungs, and that’s when I felt the blood running down my face and into my eyes. It was all over my hand. And then she just called 911 from there,” said Johnson.
Johnson said help was quick to arrive and he has nothing but praise for the men and women who helped save him and calm his family down that night. Now he’s hoping to recover to get back to a new job he’s recently started.
Arlington police, meanwhile, continue to look for the man responsible.
They described the shooter as a Hispanic man in his mid-20s, standing about 5 feet 8 inches tall, with a mustache, goatee or beard. He was driving a light-colored sports car with a hatchback or an SUV. There may be damage to the driver's side where the vehicle sideswiped the family's car.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact the Arlington Police Department.
