HENDERSON, Nev. (KABC) — Newly released body camera video shows the moments after a deadly shooting in Nevada that killed an 11-year-old boy in the back of a car during an alleged road rage incident.
At approximately 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 14, two vehicles in traffic began “jockeying for positions trying to pass each other on the congested freeway,” according to the Henderson Police Department.
One of the vehicles tried to pass on the shoulder of the freeway, which is when both drivers rolled down their windows and began arguing, police said.
A 22-year-old suspect in a four-door sedan allegedly fired a single shot from a handgun at a hybrid SUV driven by the victim’s stepfather — hitting 11-year-old Brandon Dominguez-Chavarria, who sitting in the back seat, police said.
Brandon was on his way to school, police said.
The victim’s stepfather then rammed the suspect’s vehicle, causing both of them to come to a stop in the middle of the freeway, police said.
Both drivers got out of their vehicles and proceeded to get into a heated exchange as a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer happened to be driving by, officials said.
“My kid is dead!” the distraught father exclaims in video footage recorded by the officer’s body camera.
The alleged shooter, Tyler Matthew Johns, appears stunned.
“I shot at him bro,” Johns tells the officer in the video.
“You shot at him?” the officer replies.
“I didn’t know there was a (expletive) kid in the back,” Johns says.
The officer took John into custody and the firearm was recovered, police said.
“It’s 100% my fault,” a handcuffed Johns says in the footage as he is placed in the back of a patrol vehicle. “I shot at him, dude. I didn’t even know he had a kid in the car.
“Is there any chance the kid will be OK?” Johns asks the officer moments later.
“There’s always a chance. I don’t know,” the officer responds. “If you’re a praying man, I would be praying right now.”
Shortly after the suspect was taken into custody, the Henderson Fire Department arrived at the scene and transported Brandon to a local hospital, but “despite their best efforts,” the child succumbed to his injuries, police said.
Johns was booked for open murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, police said, calling the shooting a “senseless act.”
The Clark County Coroner identified Brandon as a resident of Henderson. A GoFundMe page was created in his honor.
His mother confronted Johns in court last week.
“He wanted to take somebody’s life away,” she said. “He took my son’s away. He was just trying to make it to school.”
Johns was being held without bail.
