Indiana State Police are investigating after they say a pickup truck driver shot and killed a man in Indianapolis in what appears to be a road rage incident.
Officer Amanda Hibshman with the Indianapolis Police Department told USA Today that officers responded to a report of a person being shot at an intersection on the city’s southeast side just after 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
When officers arrived on scene, they found a man lying in the middle of the road with at least one gunshot wound, police said.
The man’s wife identified the shooting victim as 29-year-old Gavin Dassaur.
“I held him while he bled out and waited for the ambulance,” the victim’s widow, Viviana Zamora, told the Indianapolis Star, part of the USA Today Network.
It was not immediately clear where Dassaur and his wife live or what caused the fight to break out.
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Hibshman said Thursday that paramedics rushed Dassaur to a hospital, where he died.
“We were very much in love and had a lot of plans for the future,” Zamora told The Star, adding that the couple had recently married. “We wanted to start a family, have a honeymoon, travel the world.”
The suspected shooter was detained at the scene, Hibshman said.
“After further investigation and consultation with the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, the individual has been released,” a police spokesman said, suggesting the shooter may have acted in self-defense.
Video shows man fatally shooting driver during Indianapolis road rage shooting
Cellphone photos posted online by the New York Post and a video posted to X show a man wearing a hat, green shirt and cargo pants approaching a white Chevrolet pickup truck with an extended cab.
USA TODAY is not linking to this video due to its gory content.
The Washington Post, which obtained a seven-second video of the brawl, identified the man approaching the truck as DeSaul, and at least one photo shows what appears to be a handgun in his hand.
The video also shows the man punching the truck and then yelling at the truck driver.
At one point in the video, the truck driver can be seen firing several shots at a man outside his truck, causing the man to fall to the ground.
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Autopsies to determine official cause of death for road rage victims
The Marion County Coroner’s Office will perform an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of Dassaur’s death.
Police said the incident remained under investigation as of Friday.
Anyone who witnessed the shooting is asked to contact Indianapolis police.
Contributor: Jade Jackson
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter at USA TODAY. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her at X @nataliealund.
