Video: Hit-and-Run Moments Before Road-Rage Shooting

There may have been another car accident before the one that led to Will Smith's death
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 12, 2016 12:21 PM CDT

A man has been charged with murder in the road rage shooting death of former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith, but surveillance video from shortly before the shooting raises questions about what actually started the incident. Police say Cardell Hayes' Hummer rear-ended Smith's Mercedes SUV (which in turn rear-ended a third car), sparking an argument between the two men that ended with Hayes shooting Smith and Smith's wife, CBS News reports. But new video obtained by Fox 8 New Orleans and also aired by ABC News appears to show Smith's SUV rear-ending Hayes' Hummer after Hayes came to a sudden stop less than two blocks away from the eventual shooting scene. The video then shows the Hummer pulling over, the SUV driving away from the scene, and the Hummer following.

"Prior to the actions that led to Mr. Smith's death, my client was involved in a hit-and-run. Someone hit him, the person failed to pull over, my client trailed behind this person in an effort to get their license plate number. My client also called 911. While he was on the phone with 911, that's when the three-car accident occurs," Hayes' lawyer says. Per ESPN, the attorney has been suggesting there was a second gun at the New Orleans scene Saturday night, and that its existence will help exonerate his client, though he's been vague about where that gun was or who might have been wielding it. "Everybody out there felt threatened," he says, per ABC, "by someone other than Mr. Hayes." (More New Orleans Saints stories.)

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