OLIVETTE, Mo. (AP) - Prosecutors charged a Ferguson man Friday with first-degree murder in the death of a woman who was shot during a rolling gun battle between two vehicle on an interstate near St. Louis.
Calvin L. Pittman, 30, was the gunman in the shooting that killed Kristen Whitted, 46, of Bridgeton, on Interstate 170 on Monday in Olivette, authorities said.
“This was a despicable random act of violence,” Olivette Police Chief David Wolf said at a news conference Friday.
Wolf said authorities believe only one other vehicle was involved in the gun battle, which involved “some sort of road rage incident.”
Whitted’s family said she was driving to Forest Park to meet a friend for a daily walk when she was shot. She was alone in her car.
Pittman was also charged with armed criminal action, aiding or abetting a person discharging or shooting from a motor vehicle, and evidence tampering. He was being held on $500,000 cash-only bond.
A tip from a witness to the shooting led officers to Pittman, KMOV reported.
Wolf said Pittman was the driver of one of the cars and police have evidence that he was also the shooter, although at least one other person was in his car.
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