CENTRAL POINT, Ore. – One person is in jail and another is injured after a road rage incident late last week, led to shots being fired near Central Point.
According to Oregon State Police, a car crash was reported on I-5 near milepost 40, just after 6 pm.
OSP said one of the cars then left the scene and the other started chasing it on Kane Creek Road, when one of the drivers Jared Cody Hayden, fired his gun hitting the other car.
Kristin Esguerra is the victim, Bryan McLeod’s fiancé. She said McLeod was shot in the finger during the confrontation and had to run into the woods to get away from Hayden and fell down an embankment breaking his arm. She said the attack was racially motivated.
“When he was chasing him, he was screaming, where are you N-word, where are you N-word I’m going to kill you N-word. This is a hate crime it is, not just an attempted murder or a mental illness or however they’re going to spin it,” said Victims Fiancé, Kristin Esguerra.
No hate crime charges have been filed. Troopers were able to take Hayden into custody.
Hayden had two children in the car with him at the time, they were both released to a relative. Hayden is facing attempted murder among other charges.
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