Apparent road-rage shooting leaves one person dead in Delco; person in custody
King Hua, 54, was shot in Springfield Township in what the police chief described as a "horrendous, unnecessary death of an individual for nothing more than a perceived traffic violation."
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» Update: A person is in custody in connection to the apparent road-rage shooting death early Wednesday that left a Delaware County man dead, a law-enforcement source confirmed Thursday night. No further information about the person in custody was immediately available. »
A Delaware County man was killed early Wednesday during what prosecutors called a senseless murder motivated by a case of severe road rage.
King Hua, 54, was fatally shot shortly before 9 a.m. as he and his wife were stopped at a red light on State Road near Meetinghouse Lane in Springfield Township, according to Police Chief Joe Daly. Hua died a short time later at a nearby hospital.
Hua and his wife, township residents who immigrated here from Vietnam, were heading south on State Road in the shoulder lane when, police say, a dark-colored SUV pulled slightly ahead of them and stopped. A male passenger partially got out of the SUV, which was being driven by a woman, and shot into Hua’s car through its windshield, hitting him twice.
The two then fled the scene, according to Daly. The shooting’s exact motive was unknown, but there was no indication Hua knew the suspect, or had exchanged angry words with him, or even honked his car’s horn, before the incident unfolded.
“This was a horrendous, unnecessary death of an individual for nothing more than a perceived traffic violation,” Daly said. “Mr. King lost his life today for driving his car too slowly during rush-hour traffic.”
Little other information on the suspects was available Wednesday, and detectives were seeking to retrieve surveillance footage to help them better identify the people responsible.
Though the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident, District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said: “The entire law enforcement community in Delaware County has made this case a priority.”
“We will not stop until we bring this killer to justice,” Stollsteimer said.
Daly echoed the top prosecutor’s sentiments, saying that random violence like this is rare in the township, a suburban burg of about 24,000 residents southwest of Philadelphia.
“This kind of stuff won’t be tolerated here. This is a peaceful community,” Daly said. “If you flee, we will follow you, we will find you, and we will lock you up.”
Anyone with information about Hua’s shooting is asked to call Springfield Township Police at 610-544-1100.
Staff writer Robert Moran contributed to this report.