Road-rage bullet hits tip of a raised finger

One of four shots from a .357-caliber revolver hit the tip of a man's raised middle finger as he was driving on I-15 early Friday.

The incident appears to be one of road rage, and police are looking for an unidentified woman who fired the shots from another car.

About 12:40 a.m., the 25-year-old man was waiting at 500 South for the light to change so he could get on the freeway, said South Salt Lake Police Capt. Chris Snyder.

As he waited, a woman in what turned out to be a stolen car pulled up next to him.

The two made eye contact, but there was something about the contact that made the man uncomfortable, Snyder said. The light turned green and the two cars entered the freeway.

On the onramp, the man told police, the woman began to drive aggressively and sped up to pass the man. In doing so, she hit some traffic cones that gradually closed some of the southbound lanes, Snyder said.

Somewhere between 2100 South and 3300 South, the woman rolled down the window of her car and yelled at the man.

So he made an obscene hand gesture.

That's when she apparently fired four shots at the driver's side of the man's car. One of the bullets hit the tip of the man's middle finger on his right hand, severing it. His index finger also was injured, but not as seriously.

That bullet lodged in the man's windshield.

The man tried to follow the woman, Snyder said, but lost her and so he went to seek medical help. He called for help near 6900 South and was taken to Cottonwood Hospital where he was treated and released.

It appears the woman made a U-turn on I-15 after the shooting and headed north. She crashed into a concrete barricade near the I-15 and I-80 interchange and took the State Street exit on I-80, Snyder said.

Witnesses saw the woman as she left the car in the middle of the southbound lanes on State Street and ran away.

One witness told police the woman had knocked on his door and told him she had been in an accident and that the police were after her.

When he stood there dumbfounded, the woman ran off. He suspected she was on drugs. Police found a gun in the car and released a composite image of the woman from witness accounts.

They also discovered the car had been stolen in West Jordan on Wednesday.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call South Salt Lake Police at 801-840-4000.

The woman is described as having a dark complexion and long, dark, curly hair. She is probably in her early 20s and was wearing a white tank top and boxer shorts.

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com

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