Boys, Ages 6 And 8, Steer SUV To Safety After Father Is Fatally Shot While Driving

Authorities in Texas continue to search for whoever is responsible for fatally shooting a man while he was driving, forcing the father’s two young sons to steer the vehicle to safety.

On Aug. 20 around 10:45 p.m., Tyler Wayne Young, 29, was on the East Freeway in Houston when witnesses said a white sedan pulled up to the victim’s SUV and began firing, striking the father at least once, KPRC-TV reported.

Young’s two sons, ages 6 and 8, told officers they had heard a pop and at first believed a rock had hit their car. When their father slumped dead over the steering wheel, the boys took control of the SUV and managed to guide it for around a mile before steering it off the freeway and onto a service road. The boys, who were uninjured in the attack, then flagged down a woman exiting a Chili’s restaurant for help, according to police.

“We don't know if it was road rage or if it was someone actually trying to get these individuals,” Houston Police Lt. R. Willkens said shortly after the incident, according to KTRK-TV.

The victim’s brother, Cody Young, wrote in a GoFundMe that his sibling was “a loved son of a single mother, brother of three, husband, and father of three” in the process of rebuilding a manufactured home when he was killed.

Police recently released surveillance photos of the vehicle believed to be connected to the deadly shooting and are asking for the public’s help, KPRC-TV reported.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477) or the Houston Police Department’s Homicide Division at 713-308-3600.