Father’s killing outside school was an accident, not road rage, suspect says

A man who came forward in the presumed road rage murder of a father outside a Philadelphia-area school said the fatal shot was an accident.

Lloyd Amarsingh, 28, of Darby, turned himself in after photos of his car were made public during the investigation of the killing of Jim Hunt.

The 56-year-old father of four was found fatally shot in his van Friday morning at an intersection in front of a Catholic high school in Upper Darby, a Philadelphia suburb.

Police said surveillance video at 7:53 a.m. showed the van stopped at a red light, to the right of an Audi sedan. Then, though the light remained red, the Audi sped away through the intersection.  Shortly afterward, 911 calls reported the van driver slumped over, and police found Hunt had been shot in the head.

The street was closed for hours, and students from the two nearby schools were kept away from the scene.

Hunt was taken to a hospital, where he died that morning.

Police released images of the Audi, saying they suspected a road rage confrontation between the two drivers.

At 5:30 p.m. Friday, a lawyer contacted the police and said his client was the Audi driver — but that the shooting was unintentional.

Court documents said Amarsingh told police he had been driving around “listening to loud music and celebrating over receiving unemployment money.”

When he was stopped at the red light, he said, he leaned back in his seat and began unloading a 10-millimeter handgun. He removed the magazine, he said, but when he pulled the slide back to eject the chambered round, the weapon fired, and the bullet went through his passenger-side rear window.

He said he then left the scene quickly, driving through the red light.

Police searching his home, about 3 miles from the shooting site, found the car in the alley and the handgun inside the home.

Amarsingh was arraigned Saturday on charges of third-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and possessing an instrument of crime. A preliminary hearing date has not been set.

Hunt, who lived in Havertown, is survived by his wife, daughter, three sons and three grandchildren, his obituary said. He worked for a supplier of construction equipment and was a 1984 graduate of Monsignor Bonner High School — the school in front of which he was fatally shot.