Kansas City couple charged in Cass County ‘road rage’ shooting on I-49
A Kansas City couple is facing felony charges for allegedly shooting at another vehicle while driving on Interstate 49 in what authorities described as a road rage incident.
Around 1 p.m. Sunday, Cass County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to I-49 near mile marker 167 in Peculiar on a report of shots fired. Police pulled over the suspected shooters and also interviewed three people inside a car that had a bullet lodged in its passenger-side headlight.
The three occupants of the car, who were not identified by authorities, told police they became involved in a road rage situation while trying to pass a another vehicle on I-49. At one point, a passenger in a pickup truck brandished a firearm and fired a shot at them, they told police.
The driver of the car said she slammed on the brakes after seeing the gun. A passenger said she believed the woman was trying to shoot her.
Deputies interviewed Haley Jo Baxter, 24, and a person described in charging documents as her boyfriend, Damion Holman, also 24, after pulling over the Dodge pickup truck they were driving.
Baxter told deputies the car had been “brake checking” them and claimed its occupants had flashed “gang signs,” according to court documents. She allegedly admitted to firing the single shot at them “without aiming” while Holman drove.
Investigators determined the bullet went through the headlight from the front side of the vehicle and at a downward angle. Inside the Dodge pickup truck, they found “multiple” firearms, including one identified as being used in the shooting.
Also taken from the pickup truck during the execution of a search warrant were suspected marijuana products labeled as containing THC, the ingredient in the drug that causes a high.
Baxter, of Kansas City, is now charged in Cass County Circuit Court with unlawful weapon use, a Class B felony. She was being held in the county jail without bond Monday.
Holman, also of Kansas City, was charged with unlawful possession of an illegal weapon, according to the sheriff’s department. He was ordered held on a $500 cash bond.
In a statement, Sheriff Jeff Weber applauded “the rapid response of patrol units and the detailed investigation” as resulting in criminal charges being filed.
