E.C. man shot while driving on I-80

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Updated: March 1, 2012 8:28AM

GARY — A 31-year-old East Chicago man was taken to Methodist Hospital Northlake early Saturday morning with a gunshot wound to the left temple after he was shot by another motorist while driving on eastbound Interstate 80.

The victim has been identified as Brandis France, 31, of East Chicago. A female passenger in his car was his girlfriend also from East Chicago.

The victim was unconscious and being transferred to another hospital early Saturday, according to Sgt. Ann Wojas, Indiana State Police spokeswoman.

The incident began just before 3:45 a.m. Saturday while France and his 24-year-old passenger were travelling southbound on Cline Avenue in a 1985 Buick LaSabre. Just before the shooting the passenger noticed a slow moving Dodge Durango in the left lane.

Both the driver and passenger then noticed the front and rear passenger side windows on the Durango were down as they neared. The passenger said the Durango slowed down to where it was barely moving when the driver of the LaSabre decided to pass it, according to police.

As the pair exited Cline Avenue onto Interstate 80 eastbound in the right lane, she noticed the Durango pull alongside their vehicle on the driver’s side. The passenger said she heard one gunshot and the vehicle lost control.

When Indiana State Police Troopers Gary Runde and Marcus Gholson responded to the scene, they thought the call was for a single-car rollover crash on the highway due to the weather conditions.

But they discovered that the driver of the LaSabre, after being shot one time in the left temple, had veered to the right, hitting the concrete barrier wall off the outer shoulder. The Buick then rolled onto its top and hit the wall again.

Both the driver and passenger were able to get out of the vehicle and take refuge inside another vehicle whose driver had stopped to see if they were OK. The driver of that vehicle did not witness the shooting or accident. The passenger was taken to Northlake where she was treated and released.

This is an on-going investigation and anyone with any information is asked to call investigating Detective Jennifer Richmond at (219) 696-6242 at the Indiana State Police Lowell Post.