Boy, 10, shot in face during road rage incident that began with discarded 'cigarette butt'

David Jackson, 26, was arrested for attempted second degree murder and aggravated criminal damage

David Jackson, 26, was arrested following a road rage incident in New Orleans (Kenner Police Department)

A 10-year-old boy was shot and hospitalised following a road rage incident involving his mother’s boyfriend and another driver.

The unnamed boy was travelling in the backseat of a red Chevrolet pickup in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Saturday afternoon when it overtook David Sean Jackson’s 2004 Acura.

The two vehicles then “passed each other several more times”, police say, which is when Jackson, pulling alongside the pickup, began firing a gun into the truck striking the boy.

Officers have since told WWL-TV that Jackson, 26, had flung a “cigarette out of the vehicle” which hit the pickup. The 50-year-old driver of the Chevrolet then “cut him off…. And [Jackson] gets mad at that point.”

Jackson, who was on parole at the time of the incident, had his 25-year-old girlfriend in the car, along with his six-year-old and five-month-old sons.

After the shots were fired, the truck driver began ramming Jackson’s car, who then attempted to flee while still being chased by the pickup.

The driver of the truck kept on his tail, ramming the Acura a second time “to prevent Jackon’s escape,” police said.

Both vehicles were then apprehended by police, with Jackson arrested on charges relating to attempted second degree murder, illegal possession of a firearm by a felon, aggravated criminal damage to property, multiple traffic violations and possession of crack cocaine with the intent to sell – he had 19g on his person.

“They both had children inside the vehicle, and they had their families there,” Kenner Police Sergeant, Brian McGregor, said. “You would think that grown adults would just slow down and just calm down.”

The minor was later transferred to hospital where he remains in a stable condition. He received a grazing wound to his nasal area and had fragments strike his sinus cavity, police say, which surgeons were attempting to remove.

Officers are liaising with the district attorney’s office to deliberate over whether criminal charges should be filed against the driver of the pickup.

No other injuries were reported and Jackson remains in custody with no bond set.