VALLEY VIEW, Ohio — New details are emerging in what Valley View Police have called a deadly road rage shooting late Thursday morning. Police said the suspected shooter and another person have been released from custody as investigators unpack what led up to the incident.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office identified 41-year-old Christopher Andexler as the man killed after an argument on the Brecksville Road overpass above Granger Road.
Witnesses told News 5 they saw Andexler and another driver pull over, get out of their vehicles and argue before shots were fired. The 41-year-old died at a nearby hospital.
RELATED: Police investigating after man fatally shot near Brecksville and Granger roads in Valley View
The 28-year-old suspected shooter drove off from the scene. Police say his car malfunctioned on Schaaf Road. Neighbors said it burst into flames after the suspect, a 28-year-old woman and their young children got out uninjured.
Singed grass on Ken Lasky’s property Friday was a reminder of the bizarre series of events a day earlier.
“It was coming down the driveway burning. And the only thing I could think of was something might have ignited the fuel and caused it to burst into flames,” recalled Lasky. “They’re lucky they got out without getting killed or getting hurt.”
A surveillance camera captured an image of the suspected shooter carrying a car seat near one of the buildings on the property. Both the man and woman in the car were detained by Brooklyn Heights Police. The children, ages 4 and 2, were placed with child protective services.
“He was running towards my garden,” Lasky said. “That morning my wife said, ‘I’m going to go down and pick tomatoes.’ Something happened; she didn’t do it, but she may have been down there picking tomatoes [near] a guy like that with a gun.”
The Valley View police chief called the investigation complicated. He said investigators have received conflicting witness reports about what happened before the shooting. Prosecutors determined there was not enough evidence to hold the couple in custody. They were released Thursday evening. As of Friday morning, their children were still with child protective services.
Neighbors and witnesses have called the incident bizarre and troubling.
“It’s rare,” said Lasky. “It’s odd and it’s rare.”
The police chief said that although the couple initially attempted to run from the shooting, they were more cooperative in answering investigators’ questions while in custody. He said Valley View police, the Ohio BCI and the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office are reviewing the case and will determine charges.
