Corey Hansen, a 39-year-old man, was fatally shot on the morning of Saturday, November 22, 2025, during a confrontation along Knightdale Boulevard near Old Milburnie Road on the eastern side of Raleigh, North Carolina. Deputies from the Wake County Sheriff’s Office were called to the busy highway around 8:50 a.m. after reports of gunfire and found Hansen suffering from a critical gunshot wound; he was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead later that day.
Public reporting identifies the date of his death as November 22 and notes that he was killed in what authorities describe as a single-incident shooting in traffic, but it does not specify his race or ethnicity.
Accounts from local businesses and witnesses indicate that the violence began as a road-rage incident between the drivers of two vehicles stopped at a traffic light on Knightdale Boulevard. People in the area reported hearing horns blaring and seeing the men shouting at each other before the confrontation spilled out of the cars. Video shared with reporters shows two men struggling in the grassy median: one appears to be holding a handgun while the other shoves him, and both fall to the ground during the struggle. A separate broadcast in Chinese about the case similarly described the dispute escalating from honking and yelling at the light to shots being fired, with Hansen struck in the chest.
In the immediate aftermath, investigators shut down Knightdale Boulevard between Old Milburnie Road and Farm Well Road for several hours, causing major disruptions to traffic as crime scene tape, patrol cars and evidence markers appeared along the roadway. Reporters at the scene observed items of clothing scattered on the median, consistent with an intense physical altercation before the shooting. Authorities later said the road reopened at about 4:30 p.m. once preliminary processing of the scene was complete. Throughout the day, the sheriff’s office emphasized that there was no ongoing threat to the broader community, characterizing the shooting as an isolated event tied to that specific encounter.
As for the investigation, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office has publicly confirmed that a suspect has been identified but has not released that person’s name. Officials have said there was no active search for the shooter and that no arrest had been made as of the most recent updates, suggesting investigators know who the alleged shooter is and are determining how to proceed. Coverage in both local news and a national gun-policy outlet notes that law enforcement is reviewing evidence and potential self-defense claims before deciding whether to file charges, and that the case is being examined in the wider context of rising traffic- and road-rage-related shootings in Wake County. Authorities continue to describe the case as active and have not disclosed further details about the suspect or any possible relationship between the two men beyond the roadway encounter.
Online tributes for Hansen on a gun-violence memorial site describe him in personal terms rather than legal or investigative ones, portraying him as loving, caring, spontaneous and adventurous, with family and friends lighting virtual candles in his memory and sharing brief remembrances. That memorial confirms the date and place of his death and situates his killing among a wider record of gun-related fatalities, but, like the news coverage, it does not add more public detail about his background or identity beyond his name and age.
