An off-duty police officer from New Jersey is being held on $1 million bond after shooting a man to death on a Maryland highway after being involved in an apparent road rage altercation.
Joseph Walker, 40, of East Ampton, N.J. has been charged with second degree murder and manslaughter after he fatally shot a fellow driver on I-97 in Anne Arundel County, M.D. on Sunday night, according to a news release from the Maryland Department of State Police.
It's been alleged that the road rage incident occurred at approximately 8:30pm on Sunday night between Walker and his victim, Joseph Harvey Jr., 36, of Millersville, Md. Walker was driving a minivan with his wife and children inside and Harvey was driving a Honda Accord with one passenger, who was not injured in the shooting.
Both cars pulled onto the shoulder of the highway after the alleged road rage incident. Harvey exited his vehicle and began approaching Walker's minivan. Walker is then alleged to have pulled out a .45 glock and fired at Harvey, hitting him several times. Emergency personnel arrived on the scene and transported Harvey to nearby Baltimore Washington Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office in New Jersey, where Walker is a sworn officer, released a short statement on the incident but have directed all other inquiries to Maryland officials.
"We are aware of the fatal shooting incident involving one of our detectives who was off-duty...We will not be making any other comment on this for now," the prosecutor's office said.
According to CBS News, Maryland State police are in the process of interviewing witnesses who reported the road rage incident prior to when the shooting took place.
"Certainly, it appears that this is some sort of aggressive behavior gone bad," said Elena Russo of the Maryland State Police.
Walker is being held in a Maryland Correction Facility and is scheduled to appear before a court commissioner on Monday.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
