Murfreesboro police identify motorcyclist killed in road rage shooting, charge suspect
Murfreesboro police identified fatal victim in a Saturday road rage shooting as 49-year-old motorcyclist Paul Howell.
The shooting that injured another motorcyclist and involved an SUV occurred around 7:44 p.m. Saturday on South Rutherford Boulevard, Murfreesboro police spokesman Larry Flowers said in a press release.
Emergency responders transported Howell to a local hospital where he later died. The second victim, a yet-identified 48-year-old man, was shot in the arm and treated for his injury, Flowers said.
Police charged the SUV driver, 39-year-old Joseph Gann, with second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and one count of reckless endangerment.
Gann left the scene of the shooting and later turned himself in to officers at the Murfreesboro Fire Rescue Department Station 3 on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, according to the press release.
Gann is in jail at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center on a $1.5 million bond. Gann faces a hearing as part of an 8:30 a.m. June 24 docket before Rutherford County General Sessions Court Judge Ben Hall McFarlin III, online records show.
The preliminary investigation reveals Gann was driving a Toyota Rav4 when a road rage incident with a group of motorcycle riders occurred, according to the Murfreesboro Police Department press release. Things escalated at the intersection of South Rutherford Boulevard and Southeast Broad Street/Manchester Highway (also known as U.S. Highway 41).
Detectives reported that Gann fired multiple shots striking two of the motorcyclists.
The Murfreesboro Police Department Criminal Investigations Division Violent Crimes detectives are still investigating what led to the road rage shooting.
Witnesses of the road rage with any information that could be helpful to the investigation are asked to contact Detective Drew Stalnaker by calling 629-201-5615.
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Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @ScottBroden. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Murfreesboro PD identifies motorcyclist killed in road rage shooting
