Road rage was behind one driver fatally shooting another on an Interstate 94 entrance ramp in Minneapolis over the weekend, according to charges filed Wednesday.
George Howard, of Minneapolis, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the shooting that occurred late in the afternoon Sunday at I-94 and N. Dowling Avenue.
Howard, who turns 48 on Thursday, remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail ahead of a court appearance Thursday. Court records do not list an attorney for him.
The victim, identified Wednesday as 38-year-old Luis D. Martinez Ortiz, was declared dead at North Memorial Health Hospital soon after the shooting. Martinez Ortiz was shot in the chest, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office.
A wounded Martinez Ortiz drove down the ramp, onto I-94 and off the road, hitting meter lights before his car came to a rest along the center median, police said.
The charges did not reveal any details about what led to the drivers' angry encounter.
According to the criminal complaint:
A woman with Howard in the car said that he and Martinez Ortiz "got into a road rage incident prior to entering Interstate 94," the charges read. Martinez Ortiz came up to Howard's car and punched him. Howard then shot Martinez Ortiz.
