A man is dead, and another is in custody after a shooting that police in Frisco say stemmed from road rage.
A newly obtained arrest warrant sheds light on the moments before the fatal shots were fired in a parking lot at Frisco High School. No students were involved.
Frisco police say they responded to a shooting call at about 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
An arrest warrant says 45-year-old Jason Bartik of Celina called 911, saying he was involved in a road rage incident with another driver on the highway.
Police later identified the victim driver as 34-year-old Robert Taylor of Plano.
Bartik told officers Taylor was tailgating him, so Bartik brake-checked Taylor, the affidavit said.
Bartik said he pulled into the Frisco High School parking lot along the Dallas North Tollway and Stonebrook Parkway.
Bartik said Taylor followed him, got out, and “approached his driver side window yelling at him,” then “reached through the window and punched him in the face,” the warrant stated. Bartik said that’s when he fired his pistol at least twice.
It didn’t take long for police to respond because the police department is located across the street from Frisco High School.
Police said they found Taylor lying face down in the parking lot and immediately began life-saving measures. He later died at a hospital, police said.
Police said Bartik was initially detained at the scene but was arrested after an investigation by detectives.
He’s now charged with murder.
Joseph Neagoth, manager of VBJ Jewelers across the street from the school, said he saw the police cars as he was leaving work on Thursday night.
“At first, I thought it was an accident,” said Neagoth. “I only thought that way. I never thought of the gun side.”
Lindsey Stanley, a licensed psychotherapist, said road rage violence is an act of impulse that begins long before drivers get in the car.
“Even if you can just create 30 seconds of space between what is activating you and how you’re choosing to react, oftentimes we’re going to make a different decision,” said Stanley.