A 10-year-old girl was shot and critically injured Friday morning in what police are calling the latest in a string of road rage incidents plaguing San Antonio streets. The shooting occurred around 7:20 a.m. near Wurzbach Road and Timberhill Drive on the city’s Northwest Side.
According to police, the child was sitting in the back seat of her mother’s car when gunfire erupted after her mother honked at a vehicle backing out in front of her. The girl was struck in the stomach area and rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
“We do have a good suspect in mind at this point, but we are still investigating whether that’s the person we’re looking for or not,” the San Antonio Police Department stated. “Homicide will be following up on that.”
Rising Pattern of Road Violence
This shooting marks the latest in what appears to be an alarming trend of road rage incidents in the San Antonio area. Just two days earlier, three men were hospitalized following another road rage confrontation on the city’s West Side. That incident, which occurred shortly after 2 a.m. Wednesday along U.S. Highway 90 near Cupples Road, reportedly involved a dark-colored vehicle ramming another before shots were fired.
How common have these violent traffic encounters become? Just last month, 24-year-old Nicholas Hernandez was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the 2024 road rage murder of Julie Marie Butcher, 31, on an Interstate 35 access road.
“Julie’s life was tragically taken, and we hope her loved ones can take some measure of solace in the sentence imposed today,” Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said following the sentencing.
The Friday morning shooting has drawn significant attention from local authorities. Video from the scene showed multiple police units and crime scene tape cordoning off the area as investigators gathered evidence.
Details about the incident continue to emerge. The mother reportedly honked her horn around 7:25 a.m. when a car backed out in front of her on Timberhill Drive near Wurzbach Road. The situation quickly escalated, with the other driver allegedly opening fire, striking the young girl who was seated in the back of her mother’s vehicle, witnesses told police.
Unsolved Cases Linger
This incident comes as authorities continue their search for suspects in other road rage cases, including the unsolved 2016 killing of 25-year-old Gilbert Aaron Rocha on the Northwest Side. Nine years after that shooting, police still haven’t made an arrest in what remains one of the city’s most notorious road rage homicides.
Community advocates have increasingly called for enhanced traffic enforcement and public awareness campaigns to address what they describe as an epidemic of roadway violence. Some point to increased stress levels, higher traffic volumes, and pandemic-related behavioral changes as potential contributing factors.
For now, a 10-year-old girl lies in critical condition — another casualty in what has become an increasingly dangerous environment on San Antonio roads, where a honked horn or a perceived slight behind the wheel can escalate to gunfire in seconds.
