Person shot, killed on SR 201 during road rage incident; one other in custody

SALT LAKE CITY — One person is dead after Utah Highway Patrol said a shooting occurred on state Route 201 Monday morning.

Lt. Cam Roden with UHP said shots were fired on the eastbound lanes of the highway near 900 West at approximately 5:20 a.m. The victim, a 50-year-old man, was subsequently killed, and a 44-year-old man was taken into custody.

On Monday night, a probable cause statement identified the suspect as Thomas Jim Long.

On Wednesday, the Department of Public Safety released the identity of the victim as Jose R. Ramirez, 50, of Salt Lake County.

The probable cause statement also added that there were bullet holes in the passenger window of a black Dodge Ram. And the unresponsive victim had injuries “consistent with gunshot wounds.”

Additionally, another vehicle recorded dash cam footage of the incident. The probable cause statement further stated that the footage showed the vehicle driven by Long was cut off by the victim.

Long allegedly engaged in aggressive driving behavior, which included brake-checking and cutting off the victim. The footage also showed Long allegedly changing lanes without signaling and swerving in front of the victim.

UHP said the two men’s cars crashed on the freeway, and the suspect shot at the victim multiple times. It’s unknown if the shooting or the crash killed the victim.

Authorities closed the highway on Redwood Road in addition to 900 West while troopers investigated. Roden said they were still piecing together what happened at approximately 10 a.m. Roden reported investigators are still working to confirm the exact time frame of the incident.

Roden reported that the other person involved had no injuries, and was in custody working with law enforcement. He said that a crash did occur, but medical examiners are necessary to determine the exact cause of death.

The probable cause statement stated that Long has been booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of murder, reckless driving and aggravated assault.

“We want people to be responsible and not take things like this lightly,” Roden said.

Salt Lake City school district alerted parents that school buses caught in the “extremely heavy traffic” would be late to pick students up.

Roden reported that the road rage incident only involved two people, in separate cars. There were no other occupants in either vehicle. At approximately 9:55 a.m., both vehicles remained on scene while investigators collected evidence, which would likely keep the area closed for two to three hours. He advised people to look for alternate routes.

“As far as road rage is concerned, this is something that has been on our radar for quite some time,” Roden said. ” We’ve had a lot of incidents over the last couple of years.”

Roden said that since July, when a new road rage law went into effect to help officials track road rage incidents, UHP had investigated over 40 incidents related to road rage.

“We’re hoping that this new law helps to give law enforcement a tool to help us to counteract road rage, and get people to think twice about any type of road rage situation,” Roden said.

“Any time road rage happens on our freeway, it is a concern for us. We want to make sure that people maintain control of their emotions, that we help get people to and from, and that people can travel on our roadways here in Utah safely,” Roden said.

Roden said that road rage incidents can be avoided, by staying in control of emotions, and leaving a heated scene when necessary.

“We need to be kind and courteous on our roadways, but we also need to maintain control of our emotions,” he said.

He advised people to disengage, take an exit, and get space during road rage interactions.

“That way we all stay safe, and we don’t put other people in jeopardy,” Roden said.

Roden asked that anybody with information, including footage, contact UHP’s dispatch center.

Contrubiting: Karah Brackin and Carlysle Price, KSL TV

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This is a breaking news story. It may be updated.