Authorities in the Chicago suburb of Schiller Park say the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man on Tuesday was an act of self-defense sparked by a road rage incident that began on a busy freeway. 

According to Schiller Park police, 19-year-old Malachi N. Johnson and his intended victim were in separate cars heading southbound on Interstate 294 when they first encountered each other. Authorities haven't detailed what led to both cars leaving the freeway, but at some point both cars ended up stopped in traffic on a nearby side street. 

While stopped next to each other in traffic, Johnson exited a Nissan Sentra and approached a Chevy Traverse. That’s when both motorists brandished firearms before firing shots, officials said.

Police did not say who fired first.

Frankly, it doesn't really matter who fired first. If Johnson was the initial aggressor, and his intended victim has reasonable cause to believe his life was in danger, along with the lives of his passengers, then the driver who fired the fatal shot had every right to use lethal force in self-defense. 

Johnson was taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he died of a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. His death was ruled a homicide.

Johnson’s passenger, a woman, suffered superficial wounds and was treated at the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood and released, police said.

No one in the Traverse, occupied by a man, woman and three “younger individuals” was wounded, police said.

In a statement, Schiller Park police said that both the department and the Cook County State Attorney's office concluded, "no charges would be brought against the second individual involved as it was determined that he acted in self-defense and possessed a valid FOID and CCL."

ABC7 spoke with one woman, Michelle Yarnell, who drove up onto the scene just after shots were fired.

"It shook me a little bit, you know, what I saw there," Yarnell said.

She described the chaotic scene that played out right in the middle of Irving Park Road, just steps from the Tri-State Tollway and a couple blocks from her home.

"The one car was in the middle lane going east," Yarnell said. "Both doors were open, passenger, driver's side doors were open. One woman was very frantic and another woman was trying to console her, and then I saw the gentleman laying on the ground, almost under the car."

The best thing to do when confronted by an irate driver behind the wheel is to try to get some distance between them and you. Unfortunately, that isn't always possible. In this case, it appears that the driver of the Traverse may have tried to separate himself from Johnson, but the young man continued to escalate the situation while the two cars were stuck in traffic. 

Whatever beef Johnson had with the concealed carry holder, it wasn't worth threatening the man and his family, and it definitely wasn't worth dying for. It's a shame that he didn't just take a couple of deep breaths and continue down the road to his destination, but I'm glad that his intended victim had the means to protect himself and his passengers from harm.