CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — Update: Close friends of the man who was injured told 5 On Your Side on Friday that he died at a hospital Thursday night.
Original story:
What started as a fender bender and escalated into a fight Wednesday night has left many shoppers and employees at a west St. Louis County strip mall saddened.
"I don't understand why people quite so mad, fight each other and hurt each other," said Harry Witte, who regularly shops in the area.
"I'm surprised that somebody would go so far. I just don't understand it," said Rhonda Douglas, who works in the area.
Others are in disbelief.
"It's scary and it's the kind of thing that you hate to see happening," said Tommie Harsley, another shopper.
The supermarket is located near Olive Boulevard and Woods Mill Road in Chesterfield. Paramedics took a man in his 70s to a hospital with serious injuries, and the other driver stayed at the scene and talked with police.
"This serves as a cautionary tale of how quickly these sorts of incidents can escalate into something far more serious. Simply don't engage the other person. Call the police when safe to do so," Sgt. Robert Powell with the Chesterfield Police Department said.
"I'm saddened by it, but not surprised," Webster University Professor Dr. Muthoni Musangali said. She is the chair of the Department of Professional Counseling at Webster.
Musangali said research shows road rage incidents, shootings and other forms of violence have been on the rise nationwide since 2013.
"Lack of coping and communicating skills which leads to an inability to regulate one's self and regulate your emotions," Musangali said. "When you're in that state of mind, you're not thinking straight. My best advice is to walk away. It's the right thing to do, and it's really not hard to do."
Meanwhile, shoppers hope the injured driver recovers.
"My thoughts are with him, and I hope he doesn't have any long-lasting illnesses," Witte said.
5 On Your Side's Robert Townsend spoke briefly with the injured driver's daughter Thursday afternoon. She said right now, the family just wants "to be left alone."
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