Vance Townes

A 59-year-old man died in a road rage shooting night after he and another motorist pulled guns on each other, police said. The shooting was about 11 p.m. at North Hanley Road and Frost Avenue. The dead man, Vance Townes, had aggressively pulled in front of another driver, police said. The road rage unfolded as both drivers headed west on Frost Avenue. The surviving driver told police he was driving extra cautiously, mistakenly thinking the car behind him was a police officer's vehicle. The cautious driver went the speed limit and had extended stops at stop signs. "That apparently upset the driver behind him," Runge said. The man behind him, identified as Townes, started flashing his lights and honking his horn, police said. At one point, he swerved around the slower-moving driver, almost hitting him, and flipped him off as he went by. The cars continued on Frost, and Townes pulled into an ATM on a parking lot at Frost and North Hanley. The slower-moving driver pulled onto the same parking lot, where both men pulled guns and Townes, Runge said. Both had weapons, but only one fired shots, police said. Townes was from Berkeley.