The car and truck of two men involved in a road rage incident in Nashville, Tennessee. (Metro Nashville Police photo)A road rage incident in Nashville, Tennessee, last week ended in a truck driver being shot to death, according to a news release from the Metro Nashville Police Department.
The shooting occurred Friday, Nov. 30, during the 5 p.m. rush hour on I-65. According to police, the man who shot and killed the trucker said he fired his pistol in self-defense, and no charges have been filed against him, but the “case remains very much under investigation,” police say.
Eric Nichols, 28, of Columbia, Tennessee, reportedly shot and killed 53-year-old trucker Christopher Jankowski of Christiana, Tennessee.
Nichols reportedly told police that he and Jankowski got angry with each other when Nichols attempted to merge onto the interstate from the Harding Place ramp in his Ford Fusion sedan during heavy traffic. The dispute continued in their vehicles until both men pulled onto the shoulder of the interstate and got out of their vehicles. Police say Nichols then said the dispute turned physical in the grass shoulder.
“Nichols said during the fight, his pistol fell from his waistband,” the MNPD press release says. “He said both of them went for the gun, and that he ultimately shot Jankowski one time as the fight continued.”
Nashville police are urging any motorists that were on I-65 South between 5:05 and 5:17 p.m. Friday who saw any part of the altercation between Nichols and Jankowski to contact Midtown Hills Precinct Investigations at 615-880-1511.
