Road Rage Shooting Leaves One Dead in Maryland; Shooter was a New Jersey Cop

A road rage murder happened in Anne Arundel County on Saturday night when a New Jersey cop shot and killed a Maryland man on a highway in the Millersville are, Maryland police reported.

The road rage murder happened at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday on the shoulder of a ramp from Route 3 to Interstate 97 in the Millersville area. The road rage murder victim was identified as Joseph Harvey Jr., 36. A relative of the victim said he lived in Anne Arundel, although earlier reports said he was from Baltimore County. The road rage murderer was identified by police as Joseph Walker, 40, of Eastampton, N.J. Walker has been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter.

The victim and one passenger were riding in a Honda on Route 3 before the shooting. The officer was driving a Kia minivan. There have been no descriptions of the contact.

Joseph Harvey stopped his car on the shoulder of the Route 3 off-ramp. Police said Harvey “began walking toward” the officer, who had parked about 100 to 150 feet behind the Honda. A state police account said Harvey and his passenger both exited the car only Harvey walked toward the officer’s minivan.

The account alleges that as Harvey approached, Walker got out of his car and identified himself as a police officer. Harvey continued approaching “in a reportedly aggressive manner.” The officer fired his gun “in the direction” of Harvey. Harvey was hit was hit and fatally wounded.

The police said Walker worked with the prosecutor’s office in Hudson County, N.J. as a detectives on staffs for investigative work. A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said “We are aware of the fatal shooting incident involving one of our detectives, who was off-duty and traveling in Maryland with his wife and children.”

 by Tony Sokol