Many attend vigil for road rage victim

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - More than a hundred people attended a vigil walk Wednesday night for the victim of a shooting after an apparent road rage incident.

The vigil was for DHS employee Lance Byers, who was shot and killed at the corner of Lafayette and State streets on Tuesday morning.

The walk began at 8 p.m. in the parking lot of the DHS building at 121 Franklin Street SE, where Byers worked, and ended at the corner of State and Lafayette, where he died.

"It's so touching. It's just amazing to me and I think Grand Rapids needs something like this. We need to see that there are people that will come out... in his memory," said Sue Kopen, the grandmother of Byers' 2-year-old daughter, Emma. "It just breaks our hearts to think of Emma growing up without a father."

Byers has been described as a kind and gentle man who got along well with coworkers and loved his two-year-old daughter, Emma, very much.

Witnesses said that Byers was shot after he rear-ended a Lincoln Navigator. Byers and the driver of the Navigator started arguing.

The altercation escalated, and Byers was shot in the chest. CPR was attempted, but Byers did not survive.

The suspect vehicle, which had a man and woman inside, and left south from the scene, according to witnesses.

Wednesday, investigators were trying to determine if the shooting was actually random, or if Byers and the suspect had previous contact.