Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
DA: Crash victim was shot in head
Authorities seek driver of red pickup truck in connection with road rage incident
WEST GOSHEN » The victim in what police believe was a road rage incident on Route 100 was shot in the head before her car careened off the road and slammed into a tree, Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said Thursday night.
Police now believe the driver of a red pickup truck that was involved in the Wednesday incident shot Bianca Nikol Roberson, 18, before her car left the highway.
Authorities now say they are hunting for the driver of the red pickup truck, who fled the scene after the shooting. They say he should be considered armed and dangerous. The pickup driver remains at large.
West Goshen police said that Roberson, 18, of West Chester, a recent graduate of Rustin High School, was pronounced dead at the scene, shortly after the accident occurred at 5:30 p.m.. Police said she was traveling southbound on Route 100 when her green Chevrolet Malibu went off the roadway and struck a tree at mile marker 0.1, just before the intersection with Route 202 in West Goshen Township.
Police initially said they did know why Roberson’s vehicle left the road, but Thursday night they indicated Roberson actually had been shot before the crash.
Hogan indicated Roberson and the man were attempting to merge
into the same lane at the time, in the area of Route 100 where it becomes one lane going toward Route 202 and that the two vehicles involved were close by as the two drivers attempted to merge. Hogan said the pickup driver attempted to merge at the same time as Roberson. Hogan said that the pickup driver allegedly fired one shot that hit Roberson in the head.
“It was a total senseless act of violence,” Hogan said Thursday night. “This is now a murder case. The man pulled out a gun and shot her in the head. A young woman has died senselessly.”
Based on the surveillance videos, Hogan said the pickup driver was seen merging onto Route 202 and then he drove on the shoulder and speed away. Hogan said that driver then took the Paoli Pike exit and disappeared.
Investigators described the driver of the pick-up truck as a white man in his 30s-40s, medium built with blonde or light brown hair.
“The family is heart-broken,” Hogan said.
Police continue to investigate what sparked the confrontation between the two drivers during the merge.
West Goshen Police Chief Joseph Gleason said the two drivers may have been jostling for position when the driver of the pickup took it to another level.
“Unfortunately, he took it to this degree ... unconscionable,” Gleason said.
Police said witnesses indicated the red pickup truck fled the scene on the shoulder of the road at a high rate of speed following the incident. It was last seen heading westbound on Paoli Pike.
An initial description of the driver is a blonde male, maybe 30-40 years old, with a medium build.
Police continue to review traffic cameras in the area along Route 100 and Route 202.
Bianca Roberson was a 2017 graduate of Bayard Rustin High School. According to her family, she had plans to attend Jacksonville University in the fall, and major in psychology.
“All of us in the West Chester Area School District are shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Bianca Roberson,” said Superintendent Jim Scanlon. “Bianca had her whole life ahead of her. What should be a time of great joy and celebration in a young person’s life has turned into a horrible tragedy. This unsettling news will present profound challenges as the Rustin community deals with this tragic loss. School counselors will be available for students at Rustin (Friday) morning from 9 o’clock to 11 o’clock. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Bianca’s family and friends.”
West Goshen police and Goshen Fire crews responded to the accident reported at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. The southbound lanes of Route 100 were closed for several hours Wednesday night, and an accident reconstruction team could be seen investigating the crash site.
Police ask that witnesses and anyone with information to contact the West Goshen Police Department Traffic Safety Division at 610-696-7400 or via email at trafficsafety@westgoshen.org.