Young father killed in Hammond road rage shooting

HAMMOND, Ind. (WLS) -- One person was killed after a road rage incident escalated into a shooting in Northwest Indiana Thursday night.

Police said officers responded to a shooting in the 400-block of 165th Street around 8 p.m. Thursday. Police said two vehicles - a maroon Monte Carlo and a white Kia sedan - had been driving next to each other in an apparent road rage incident when a person in the Kia shot into the Monte Carlo.

"We don't really have the particulars about why this car engaged with our victim's car," said Lt. Steve Kellogg, Hammond Police Department.

Two people in the Monte Carlo were shot; one survived, while 18-year-old Jorge Roman of East Chicago was struck in the head and killed.

The victim's car then crashed into a nearby home, but no one inside the home was hurt, police said. The shooter fled westbound on 165th Street, police said.

Roman had a 6-month old daughter. His girlfriend, Arianah Cruz, pleaded with the public Friday for information leading to his killer.

"He was always there for me and his family, and now he can't be here anymore," she said before collapsing into tears.

Cruz said she spoke to her boyfriend just a few minutes before he died.

"I have a six-month-old daughter with him," she said. "What am I going to explain to her when she's older? How am I going to explain to her that her father got killed for no reason?"

Police said the shooter's car took off across state lines, leaving only questions in its wake.

"Even the people who took his life, I don't wish death upon, because I know what it's like and I don't want anyone to endure this pain," Cruz said.

A police investigation is ongoing. No one is currently in custody.