Beloved Akron husband, son, and brother killed in road rage shooting on I-76 in Norton

NORTON, Ohio (WOIO) - A 40-year-old man died Wednesday evening after being shot in an apparent road rage incident while driving on I-76 near S.R. 21, said police.

The shooting happened around 5:30 p.m.

The victim was George Jensen. 19 News spoke with his father and sister on Thursday. They said the irony is George hated guns and they never imagined he’d lose his life to gun violence.

“I knew that eventually that somehow the gun violence in this country was gonna affect us directly I just never knew it was gonna be my son and we were shocked but in another way, we weren’t shocked because we know this happens almost every day so yeah we’re just stunned,” said George Jensen, George’s father.

According to officials, the victim was traveling eastbound when the suspect, who was traveling in a black 2018 or newer Chevy Camaro, fired multiple shots.

After the shooting, the victim crashed into a concrete median.

“We all sort of knew,” said Jensen Sr. “We just knew it wasn’t good news. It was a blue Mazda we had heard on Facebook, so we knew it was him and sure enough, we got the bad news together. I’m glad we were all there together.”

Norton police and Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers responded to the scene for a report of a single car accident.

When they arrived, they realized Jensen had been shot several times.

EMS transported Jensen to Akron General Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m.

Jensen’s little sister Emma said he was a great big brother, but she’s furious that his life was cut short.

“I’m a teacher so every day I wake up and it’s like I don’t know if I’ll be home tonight,” Emma said. “You hear of all these school shootings and it’s just, it’s so pointless. It makes no sense so the best thing they could do to honor Geo’s life is to do something about the problem and the problem is the guns.”

George’s father said his son, sometimes known as “Geo” was a loving husband and his firstborn son. He said his son had a passion for music, cooking, and loved animals including all of his dogs, cats, and birds.

“He was someone that was never afraid to do something different,” the father said of his son. “He would take a car apart. He was a great mechanic and also, we bought a computer earlier in the 90s and he just jumped on that and he’s been in IT his whole career. He was a good software guy.”

Norton police said after the shooting, the driver of the Camaro continued eastbound on I-76 eastbound.

“Well, the thing that would jump off the page to me is that he was adamant against gun violence and owning guns,” said George. “It was the last thing I would’ve thought would’ve ever happened to him. I think the thing is he and all of us in this family we know to vote for people that will help do something about this and that’s what we need. We need politicians that are gonna step up and do something.”

The family said police had at least four witnesses to the shooting so they’re hoping investigators will track down Jensen’s killer soon.

Norton Police are asking anyone with information or who may have witnessed the incident to call the Norton Police Department Detective Bureau at 330-706-0084.

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