Dad of 3 Killed in 'Unprovoked' Road-Rage Shooting

Driver tried to push Dennis Anderson off road before passenger opened fire: cops
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 22, 2022 10:30 AM CDT

A father of three was enjoying a day out with his partner of 18 years when he was fatally shot in an "unprovoked" road rage shooting in Oregon, police say. Dennis Gerard Anderson, 45, of Tigard was declared dead at the scene on Route 18 in Polk County, where state police were called around 9pm on July 13. Brandy Dawn Goldsbury, 46, who was uninjured, told police that her partner had sprayed wiper fluid on his windshield and some of the liquid may have gotten on another vehicle that had passed him around the same time. Goldsbury said the pair, returning from a day trip to Lincoln City, saw that same vehicle parked a few miles down the road, northeast of Otis. "We drove by it, and then it got behind us," she told the Oregonian.

As lanes merged, "the car started driving really close to the back of us—almost like it was going to hit us," Goldsbury continued. "And then it would go into oncoming traffic and kind of swerve toward us, like trying to push us to the side of the forest." Goldsbury said Anderson pulled over and got out of the vehicle while she dialed 911. The other vehicle then stopped parallel to them. That's when police believe a passenger in the black BMW 3 Series opened fire. A GoFundMe page set up for family donations notes Anderson's body likely protected Goldsbury "from a spray of bullets."

Officers from multiple agencies were unable to locate the suspect—described as a male under the age of 25, "small in stature with short dark hair" and medium complexion, per Fox News—or the vehicle, which police said resembled a 2006 model, per NBC News. No arrests had been made as of Tuesday. Anyone with information is asked to call the Oregon State Police Dispatch at 1-800-452-7888. Amid the investigation, family are remembering Anderson as "a kind and funny man who wanted nothing more than to make others laugh" and "would do anything for his family, even delivering pizza for extra money during a pandemic," according to the GoFundMe page. He leaves behind two teenage daughters and an adult stepson. (More road rage stories.)

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