Houston shooting
Houston police are searching for a man who they say opened fire on Interstate 10 during rush hour. A man shot and killed two men
Houston police were searching Friday for a gunman who shot and killed two men in a rush-hour crash on a Texas freeway before he was chased off by a witness who opened fire on the suspect.

Police said it is unclear whether the original incident was a case of road rage, or whether the individuals knew each other. Houston Police Assistant Chief Bobby Dobbins noted that narcotics were found in the targeted car.

"A major accident makes you mad on the way home, but seeing something like this to a normal citizen ... witnesses are very disturbed," Dobbins said.

Police described the gunman on Friday as an Hispanic male, possibly in his early 20s, about 5 feet, 7 inches tall, and wearing a red shirt. He fled in a dark-colored sedan with a companion.

The melee erupted around 6 p.m. on eastbound Interstate 10 in Houston when the gunman's car, in which two people were riding, struck the victims' silver Nissan from the side, spinning it around and forcing it off the roadway. As the car rolled downhill, the gunman — armed with what one witness told police was a long gun, similar to a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle — jumped from his vehicle and began firing.

When the target car came to a halt, the suspect rushed to the front of the vehicle and fired into the windshield, striking both occupants in the chest.

"Unreal scene just witnessed on I-10 in Houston," tweeted Daniel Gotera of KHOU-TV. "A guy gets out of his car with gun just shooting in the middle of freeway. Unbelievable."

Witnesses performed CPR on the victims, described as middle-aged, black males, before the firefighters arrived but both were pronounced dead at the scene.

A witness who watched the scene unfold, said the suspect at one point looked at him, Dobbins said. The witness, in turn, grabbed a pistol he carries in his vehicle and began firing at the suspect, chasing him off.

The suspect then fled in his vehicle, along with a passenger.

Houston Police shut down a stretch of the freeway for hours to investigate the incident. Videos from local media showed stalled traffic, multiple police cars and a fire truck on the scene, as well as a car being towed.