ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The latest on the road rage killing of a 4-year-old girl on a New Mexico freeway (all times local):
4:30 p.m.
Albuquerque police say a person of interest taken into custody in connection with a road-rage shooting that killed a 4-year-old girl matches a description released earlier by authorities of a man in his mid-20s or early 30s with short dark hair, a thin face and goatee.
Officer Tanner Tixier also says police are seeking a warrant to search an Albuquerque home and car as part of their investigation.
Police have not released the name of the person of interest, who was taken to the police department after being arrested Wednesday just south from where the shooting occurred Tuesday.
The person of interest was taken into custody after police issued a public appeal for help to identify and find a suspect in the shooting that killed Lilly Garcia, who was riding in the backseat of her father’s pick-up truck with her 7-year-old brother when she was shot.
Reward money for tips leading to an arrest in the shooting has grown to more than $25,000.
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4:18 p.m.
Albuquerque police say they have detained a person of interest as they investigate the road rage shooting death of a 4-year-old girl on a freeway.
Police announced that the individual was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon and that they would provide more information later on the break in the case.
The announcement came a day after a 4-year-old girl was shot in what police are describing as a road rage attack. She was killed as her father drove her and a 7-year-old brother home from school Tuesday.
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3:05 p.m.
Reward money for tips leading to an arrest in a road rage shooting that killed a 4-year-old Albuquerque girl has grown to $25,000.
Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden announced at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that the City Council has authorized a $10,000 reward. That’s on top of $5,000 the FBI is offering as the agency opens its own investigation and $10,000 from Mayor Richard Berry’s office announced earlier in the day.
Eden says officers are looking for a suspect in his mid-20s or early 30s who was driving a maroon or dark red Toyota sedan with a University of New Mexico license plate when he opened fire Tuesday on Interstate 40.
Lilly Garcia, who was riding in a pickup truck with her parents, was killed.
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1:11 p.m.
Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry says his office is offering a $10,000 reward for tips leading to an arrest in the “senseless” road rage killing of 4-year-old girl.
Berry said Wednesday that Lilly Garcia’s death has “cut to the core” of the community. His office’s reward comes on top of $1,000 police are offering for tips leading to the shooter.
Police haven’t released the suspect’s name but say he was driving a maroon or dark red Toyota sedan with a University of New Mexico license plate when he opened fire Tuesday on Interstate 40.
Police say they struggled with the initial investigation and search for the assailant because of a storm that swept over the Albuquerque area soon after the shooting, witnesses’ varying descriptions of the suspect and a crime scene that could span 2 miles.
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10:31 a.m.
Albuquerque police say they’re searching for a man who was driving a maroon or dark red Toyota sedan when he opened fire in a road rage incident that killed a 4-year-old girl.
Officer Tanner Tixier said Wednesday morning that police believe the assailant was driving a Corolla or Camry with a spoiler on the trunk and dark tinted windows. The car also had a University of New Mexico plate.
Tixier says the suspect is believed to be in his mid-20s or early 30s and detectives want the public’s help in identifying him.
Police Chief Gorden Eden described the shooting about an hour before the start of Tuesday’s evening rush hour as an unexplainable crime brought on by road rage.
The girl’s name hasn’t been released.
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