Road rage incident turns to gunfight

An off-duty police officer was smack dab in the middle of a road rage incident that ended in a hail of gunfire early Monday morning.

The incident happened just after midnight near 98th and Dennis Chavez in Southwest Albuquerque.

Investigators said that two 15-year-olds were in one car and officer Early Nagy and his wife were in another car when someone cut the other car off.

Officers said the teens got out of their car and fired at the off-duty officer, and then he returned fire.

Neighbors say up to six or seven shots were fired. Officer Nagy's wife was hit in the leg with a bullet and a teen was struck in the arm. Both were taken to the hospital.

"Now you can't really be comfortable at night so the walls are not going to protect you," said neighbor Marco Farias whose wife heard the shots last night.

Farias has two young children.

News 13 learned that Nagy was involved in another angry encounter on the streets. On December 8, 2008, police said he was in a car on Interstate 40 near Carlisle when he noticed another vehicle cutting other cars off.

That car then pulled up to Nagy's vehicle and a person inside fired two shots. His wife and another woman were in the car at the time. They were not hurt and police eventually caught the suspects.

Nagy is a seven year veteran of the police force and is currently a patrol officer.

Officer Nadine Hamby reminds drivers that it's never a good idea to let your rage get the best of you when you're driving a 4,000 pound vehicle.