Surviving Passenger in I-295 Shooting Says They Were Followed: Report

The brother-in-law of the man fatally shot Thursday morning while driving his SUV on I-295 says the two were followed, according to a report by WUSA-9.

Pedro Alvarado, 50, of Alexandria was fatally shot by someone in another car while driving his black SUV in morning traffic at about 8:51 a.m., according to DC Police. He and his brother-in-law were being followed when shots were fired at the SUV, family members told WUSA-9.

The two were near the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, about two miles north of the I-495 Capital Beltway.

Brother-in-law Miguel Rodriguez, 57 was the passenger in the SUV and was also shot, but survived and is recuperating in the hospital.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch are investigating the homicide.

Read: Police: Alexandria Man Dead After Shooting in A.M. Commute

When police officers from the Seventh District got to the scene, they located two adult males suffering from gunshot wounds, and an SUV with shot-out windows, police said. DC Fire and EMS personnel arrived on the scene and transported the brother-in-law to a local hospital. Pedro Alvarado was unresponsive and remained on the scene, police said.

Police do not have a good description of the vehicle that fired on Alvarado and Rodriguez, only that it is a dark vehicle. Police are encouraging anyone who saw something to call police immediately. “This is rush hour traffic,” DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier said in an impromptu news conference at the scene. “There were a lot of cars out here. People had to see something.”

The Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that provides information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons wanted for any homicide committed in the District of Columbia. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at (202) 727-9099. Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411.

Rodriguez, a father of four, may be coming home on Friday, USA Today reported. Doctors were reluctant to remove a bullet lodged in his cheek, due to possible nerve damage that could occur, the newspaper reported.