Inset: Bryan Arceo (San Antonio Police Department). Background: The bullet hole that Bryan Arceo allegedly put in a family's minivan when he shot a 10-year-old girl in San Antonio, Texas, who was on her way to school (KSAT/YouTube).
A 10-year-old girl in Texas who was on her way to school with her parents was shot by a road rage driver fuming over her mom honking at him as he "backed out of a driveway aggressively," cops say. The girl was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries and had to have surgery, police and her family report.
Bryan Arceo, 41, allegedly fired a 9 mm handgun from his vehicle at the family's minivan after pulling alongside them at a red light in San Antonio on Friday morning, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by local ABC affiliate KSAT.
Arceo's ex-wife was with him at the time, as was his daughter, and they were also on the way to drop the child off at school, police say.
"Arceo backed out of a driveway aggressively, and another driver honked at the suspect," the San Antonio Police Department said in a Facebook post. "In response, [Arceo] fired his gun towards the victim's vehicle, striking the girl in the back seat."
Arceo "took off" after the shooting before being tracked down and arrested, SAPD says.
The 10-year-old victim was sent to a local hospital "with life-threatening injuries" and she underwent surgery, her family reports. The girl's dad, Jason Gates, spoke to KSAT about what allegedly happened leading up to the shooting and afterward.
"My wife was on her horn, but she was on her horn no more than three seconds," Gates explained.
Arceo's ex-wife spoke to police and said "she looked away and heard a pop" after he pointed his 9 mm at the family's van, according to the affidavit. She allegedly told cops he also racked the slide before firing.
"My wife looks at my daughter and says, 'Hey, did you get shot?'" Gates recounted. "My daughter says, 'No,' then I opened the door a little bit."
Gates said he and his wife noticed that their daughter had been shot and they quickly notified authorities. "I kept telling my wife, 'Babe, you need to pull over,'" Gates recalled.
Arceo, meanwhile, kept driving and dropped his ex-wife off at her workplace and then took his child to a nearby school, according to police. He was booked at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center after being taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault for recklessly discharging a firearm and child endangerment.
"I told my wife, I said, 'What are we going to do with a bullet hole in the side of the car?'" Gates said. "She goes, 'I don't want the car anymore.'"
The couple's daughter is expected to survive after undergoing surgery.
"She's doing great," Gates told KSAT.
Arceo is scheduled to appear in court on April 30 after being granted a $375,000 bond.