Dad Shot After Splashing Windshield Fluid on Raging Driver's BMW: Family

An Oregon man was shot to death after accidentally splashing cleaning fluid on the killer's car, his family says.

More than 500 people were wounded or killed in nationwide road rage shootings in 2021, double the pre-pandemic average, according to Everytown Research and Policy. It was the worst year on record for road rage shootings.

Dennis Anderson, 45, was driving home from a day trip with his partner of 18 years, Brandy Goldsbury, on July 13. They had just enjoyed a day trip to Lincoln City, Oregon, where they dreamt of buying a home, Goldsbury told The Oregonian. The couple have three children.

While driving, Anderson sprayed wiper fluid on his windshield to clean it, Goldsbury said. They realized that some of the liquid may have gotten on a BMW driving nearby. When the car started trying to pass them, Goldsbury said she was dismissive at first.

"I was just like 'ignore him, he's having a bad day,'" she recalled to the newspaper.

The driver passed them and seemed to disappear. But a few miles later, they drove by a rest area where the same BMW was parked. As they drove on, the car got close behind them. The driver seemed to be attempting to hit their car or force it toward the forest.

At that point, Goldsbury said they should stop driving and call the police. Anderson pulled over and got out of the car while she dialed 911.

The BMW stopped parallel to them and a man in the passenger seat fired several shots, reported Oregon State Police.

"The last thing that he said was, 'Oh my god, they shot me,'" Goldsbury told The Oregonian. "By the time I got to him, blood was coming out of his mouth."

A bystander attempted CPR on Anderson until paramedics arrived, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Goldsbury was uninjured, likely "due to her husband's body sheltering her from a spray of bullets," according to a Go Fund Me page for the family.

Oregon State Police are still hunting for the suspect or suspects and no arrests have been made, a spokesperson told Newsweek.

Road Rage

The harm of road rage shootings has shot up since the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought new stressors into people's lives and exacerbated underlying stressors. From 2016 to 2019, roughly one-third of road rage incidents involving a gun resulted in injury or death. That proportion spiked to one-half in 2020 and nearly two-thirds in 2021, according to Everytown Research and Policy.

In May, a woman was arrested for allegedly shooting a teenager in the face following a road rage argument in Georgia.

In California, a couple is standing trial for the murder of a six-year-old boy during a road rage shooting.

And last Christmas eve, a professional boxer in Maryland was shot dead in front of his children while driving to their holiday dinner.

Newsweek reached out to the Anderson family for comment.