Jay Boughton Plymouth Minnesota road rage shooting death: Armstrong Cooper Youth baseball coach shot dead during hgwy 169 altercation. Driver sought.
Here we go again. A youth baseball coach was killed in an apparent road rage shooting when an unidentified motorist opened gunfire on the 54 year old as he drove with his son on a Minnesota highway, police and reports said.
After the bullet hit Jay Boughton on Tuesday night, his car lost control and veered off Highway 169 in Plymouth – crashing through a chain-link fence and hitting trees before slamming into parked cars at an apartment parking lot, KSTP reported.
His son, whom he’d been driving back from a team game, gave his dying father CPR until an ambulance arrived, the station stated.
During a Wednesday press conference, Plymouth Public Safety Director Erik Fadden said the shooter was still at large.
‘I just have to say this was one of the most tragic events that I have witnessed in my 20 years of policing,’ Fadden said.
Unidentified driver sought
Adding, ‘It was really truly a senseless act that resulted in the loss of a human life. And our thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends and those affected by this horrible event.’
Police said a ‘traffic altercation’ broke out between Boughton and another driver at around 10 p.m. as their vehicles traveled side-by-side. But they didn’t offer details on the lead-up to the shooting.
Authorities are now asking the public’s help in identifying the other vehicle that fled the scene. Surveillance snapshots released by police show a light-colored SUV that may be a Chevy Tahoe or Suburban, and a press release said the vehicle could have damage on its rear bumper.
Boughton was an assistant coach for the last three years with the under 15UAAA team in the league for which his son played, the Armstrong Cooper Youth Baseball Association, KARE 11 reported. All of the remaining 15UAAA games this season have been canceled, according to the station.
‘Jay’s death is a tragedy, and we all need to take time to reflect on this loss, and to mourn the passing of a dear member,’ the association told parents in an email, cited by KSTP.
Boughton’s friend Tim Browne called him a ‘great dad’ who’d do anything for the kids in the community.
‘His presence in their lives and constant words of encouragement meant the world to the kids,’ Browne said in a statement to the station.
The apparent road rage shooting is the latest in a string of fatal gun violence episodes pervading the United States in recent months.
