An 11-year-old boy on his way to school in Henderson was shot and killed in what police say began as a road-rage confrontation on the 215 Beltway — a burst of freeway anger that ended with gunfire fired into the family car. Officers later arrested a 22-year-old driver who they say pulled the trigger, and prosecutors have since charged him with open murder, a crime that could send him to prison for life.
Police say the violence unfolded during morning traffic as the boy’s stepfather drove westbound along the 215, a routine school commute that turned deadly within seconds. A single round punched through the family’s vehicle and struck the child in the back seat. He was rushed to a hospital, where he later died despite emergency treatment. The case has shaken the region, forcing painful questions about how a fleeting traffic dispute could escalate into a fatal shooting of a child.
What police say happened on the 215 Beltway
Investigators say the stepfather’s vehicle and a car driven by 22-year-old Tyler Matthew Johns became involved in an aggressive merge interaction — what police described as “jockeying for position” in freeway traffic. At some point during that exchange, Johns allegedly fired a handgun into the occupied SUV, striking the boy as he rode in the back seat.
Realizing his stepson had been shot, the stepfather rammed Johns’ vehicle to stop him from leaving, causing both cars to crash to a stop near the freeway shoulder. A nearby officer quickly responded, and police took Johns into custody at the scene. Lanes of the 215 were closed as detectives processed what had become a homicide investigation rather than a traffic collision…