Road rage shootings are on the rise in Georgia
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The rate of road rage shootings in Georgia has spiked during the past decade, outpacing the national average.
Why it matters: 58% of all road rage shootings in the state during that time resulted in injuries or death.
Driving the news: The rate of shootings in Georgia per million people climbed from .59 in 2015 to 2 in 2023, according to an analysis of Gun Violence Archive data by gun violence newsroom The Trace.
- That's above the national average of 1.4.
The intrigue: The total number of shooting incidents hovered at 11 or below each year from 2015 to 2020.
- However, that figure nearly doubled to 20 in 2021 and reached 21 in 2022 and 22 in 2023.
- In metro Atlanta, several shootings that were suspected road rage incidents have been reported within the last few years, including one last week in Atlanta and others earlier this year in Cobb County, South Fulton and Lawrenceville.
- Last year, a man was arrested in the fatal shooting of Jovan Cook, a 37-year-old Atlanta actor and model, during an alleged road rage incident in College Park.
The big picture: Across the country, road rage shootings have risen from 83 in 2014 to 456 in 2023, a 450% increase, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj report.
Stunning stat: "The number of road rage shootings tracked by GVA increased by an average of 23 percent each year over the past decade," The Trace reports.
Caveat: The GVA is a private nonprofit that produces a range of gun violence estimates based on police reports, government data, news stories and more.
- Some incidents go unreported, so not every relevant episode is captured.
Between the lines: As the number of guns in circulation grows and many states relax their gun control laws, it's possible that road rage incidents — that otherwise would've been an exchange of middle fingers, colorful language or fists — instead turn into shootouts.