KENT, Wash. — The suspect in a road rage shooting on Interstate 5 that left a man with "life-altering injuries" was charged with first-degree assault on Thursday.
Francisco Oliver Castro-Guzman was booked into the King County Jail. The state requested bail be set at $500,000. His arraignment is scheduled for May 4.
On March 15, around 4:30 p.m., police received reports of two cars driving erratically on northbound I-5 between Kent and SeaTac near 216th Street.
Castro-Guzman allegedly pulled out a gun and fired at the victim. The victim of the shooting then crashed into the barrier. Castro-Guzman fled the scene.
A tip clued investigators in to the suspect's identity. They reached out to local agencies to locate him and he was found at Harborview Medical Center. The King County Sheriff's Department was there investigating a different shooting where Castro-Guzman was the victim.
Washington State Patrol troopers were assigned to the suspect until his release from the hospital. He was then booked into jail.
According to WSP, troopers have reported 12 drive-by shootings in King County so far this year. Half of those were in the month of March. It’s an issue on the roads that is getting worse. Over the past five years, cases of shots fired in Pierce and King Counties have been climbing and road rage shootings are increasing.