Police say multiple road rage incidents involving guns likely unrelated

Gabriella Bachara by Gabriella Bachara

Copyright 2019 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Three road rage incidents were reported to the Madison Police Department and UW Police Department last week, according to authorities.

WiscAlert-Incident in the arboretum is being investigated by UWPD. Suspect vehicle believed to have left the area and there is no longer an immediate threat.

— UW-Madison Police (@UWMadisonPolice) June 15, 2019

Madison police public information officer said that there is no reason to believe these incidents are related and that although they have seen an increase in reports over the past week, this type of situation is nothing new.

“We do get cases where people are very frightened because they’ve engaged in road rage with someone, where the victim is yelling, maybe gesturing at someone, and lo and behold the person pulls up next to them and flashes a gun, points a gun and now they are very, very frightened and calling the police,” DeSpain said.

No one has been shot in one of these situations, according to DeSpain.

Police say the best thing to do in a road rage incident is to try not to engage with the other driver.

“Take a breath. Maybe say something to yourself, but don’t gesture to the other driver. Don’t yell something at the other driver. Don’t swerve at them. Don’t honk your horn, because you just don’t know,” DeSpain said.

If someone should find themselves in a situation where a weapon is pulled, they should call the police.

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COPYRIGHT 2020 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.