A deaf man was gunned down last week in what has been described as a road rage "honking incident " in Indiana as his family and friends mourn the "beautiful soul" he was.
Ryan Hawkins was reportedly driving along Interstate 65 heading north near mile marker 103, which is just south of Indianapolis, when the driver of a Ford Explorer behind him pulled up to him and shot him, sending him veering off the highway into a nearby pond.
Hawkins, 35, was ejected from the vehicle, local station WISH reported, and ultimately died of a gunshot wound to his neck as well as the injuries he sustained from the ejection. The authorities fished his vehicle out of the water.
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"Ryan was trying to speed off, like he was trying to get away," his best friend Ben Levine told the outlet. Members of his family told the station that they believed there had been a "honking incident," but that wasn't confirmed.
The shooting occurred just after 1 p.m. on May 1, it was reported, and bullet holes littered Hawkins' Hyundai Elantra, the police said. Two days later, the authorities were able to track down the alleged perpetrators, Andre Briski, 24, and Shawna Rowland, 23. The former faces a murder charge and one for the possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, while the latter is slated to be charged with assisting a criminal and obstruction of justice.
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Briski, however, is claiming self-defense, stating that Hawkins had been "brake-checking" him while they drove and that he feared for his life. "I'll tell you right there, I did it," Briski allegedly said, according to WRTV. "I didn't mean to. I was afraid that we were going to crash and die."
Court documents obtained by the local station reportedly contain witness testimony that said they saw Hawkins speeding away as the Ford Explorer pulled up next to him and fired through his window. Chaos ensued when Hawkins veered off the road and landed in the river.
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Drew Hawkins, Ryan's brother, told WISH, "When deaf people meet deaf people, you click instantaneously because you have similar lives, but Ryan just connected with everyone. He was a beautiful soul." His sister, Paige, said her brother was a light in her life.
Ryan attended the Indiana School for the Deaf, then went on to earn a liberal arts degree from Gallaudet University, the only liberal arts school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students around the world, WISH reported.
In a statement to the news outlet, the university said, "Gallaudet University is saddened by the untimely passing of Ryan Hawkins, a 2013 graduate. Mr. Hawkins was an active and involved student and a loyal alumnus. His sister is an alumna, and his brother is a current student. We mourn with his family, and wish them peace and comfort."
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