Greeley death highlights deadly combination of guns, road rage

In the nights since their father was shot to death on a busy Greeley street, Alberto Ruiz's children have cried themselves to sleep, waiting for their father to come home.

Ruiz, known to his friends and family as Beto, was shot and killed in broad daylight while driving down a bustling 29th Street in what police believe was a violent case of road rage. And while police look for leads in this case — his suspected killer has not been arrested  — more motorists are worried about the dangers of road rage, especially when a driver flashes a gun.  

Although law enforcement does not specifically track road rage cases in which someone is shot or brandishes a gun, experts believe that a rising number of road rage cases involve firearms. 

"This has been something of a record year for drivers brandishing firearms as part of road rage," AAA spokesman Skyler McKinley said. 

In Colorado, the number of road rage cases involving guns is on pace to exceed last year's total, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a group that uses police and media reports to track gun violence. The group counted 14 road rage cases involving firearms last year. This year, the organization has recorded eight, including the one that left Ruiz dead in Greeley in late April.

Nationally, the group has tracked a more dramatic increase.

McKinley said according to AAA's survey data, 80 percent of drivers last year said they'd expressed significant anger or aggression behind the wheel. About 4 percent of drivers said they had gotten out of their car to confront another driver. 

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In Fort Collins, someone shot a BB gun during a road rage case in January of last year, Fort Collins Police Services spokeswoman Kate Kimble said in an email.

"When we say we think about 4 percent of drivers have gotten out of the vehicle to confront someone, we're talking about millions of drivers," McKinley said.

Investigators have not revealed many details about the moments leading up to Ruiz's death, but said they believe whoever shot him did so out of anger over something that happened on the road.

When first responders arrived on scene, they first thought it was just a car crash. Ruiz's truck had careened into a concrete wall. But when they got there, they found the husband and father of two dead with a gunshot wound to the head.

"Beto was our joy," his brother, Art Ruiz, wrote in a statement distributed through the Greeley Police Department. "His hugs brought us comfort, his jokes brought us laughter, and his smile brought us peace."

Colorado State Patrol trooper Nate Reid said the agency does not specifically track these types of road rage cases. Instead, they get logged as "menacing with a weapon." But he said it's not uncommon for troopers to get reports of enraged drivers displaying firearms to other motorists. 

"It happens on I-25, on city streets," he said. "Something like this can occur (anywhere). ... For somebody with road rage, it doesn't have to be much. It could be something so silly as somebody didn't use their turn signal."

More:Man killed in possible Greeley road rage was shot before he crashed

These road rage calls involving firearms can create a dangerous situation not only for the drivers involved, but also for law enforcement officers tasked with intervening.

"My best suggestion is to remove yourself from the situation, get off the road and gather your thoughts, and let yourself calm down," he said. "Go on about your day, but don't get caught up. You don't know what the person in that car is capable of, and there's a lot of people who carry guns in their cars."

In Greeley, where Ruiz was killed, officers often find themselves responding to road rage calls, but Ruiz's case is rare. Spokesman Joe Tymkowych of the Greeley Police Department said officers will notify nearby law enforcement agencies if a driver in a road rage call is heading out of the county, so they know to be on the lookout.

"It's important for us to take those calls seriously," he said. "We don't get lots of them, but we get enough to where it's almost a daily concern."

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Road rage tips

• If you feel like your life is in danger, you can call 911.
• To report aggressive drivers in a non-emergency, you can dial *CSP (*277). If people call in three complaints for the same vehicle, Colorado State Patrol sends a warning to the person registered to the call. If more than three reports come in for the same vehicle, a state trooper will talk to that person in person.