A 30-year-old Minneapolis man has been arrested on suspicion that he clashed with another motorist near St. Cloud and set off a marathon road rage incident that ended with a 61-year-old driver shot to death, police said Wednesday.
William F. Haire, 61, of Buffalo suffered a fatal shot to the abdomen Sunday afternoon near on Garland Lane near County Road 30, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office said Tuesday.
Police located Haire in his car off the road about a half-mile east near Interstate 94 and Maple Grove Parkway. Emergency responders took Haire to North Memorial Health, where he died about two hours later, the Medical Examiner's Office said.
The suspect, who is from Minneapolis, turned himself in at Maple Grove police headquarters Monday night and awaits charges. The Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.
"The case has been submitted to our office for review," said Lacey Severins, spokeswoman for the Hennepin County Attorney's Office. "A charging decision is due at noon [Thursday]."
Police Cmdr. Jon Wetternach said that the conflict between the two motorists — who did not know each other — began with the suspect driving his SUV and "doing something while driving that kind of precipitated the whole thing." Wetternach declined to elaborate further.
For the next 40 miles, "the drivers had interactions along the route" until Haire was hit by a gunshot that pierced a car door as the two vehicles traveled south on Garland Lane, police said.
Wetternach said each driver had an adult passenger along, but they were not physically harmed.
