ST. LOUIS -- A motorist killed during a rush-hour freeway shooting Wednesday apparently died in retaliation for a local murder in which he was questioned, police said. Three other Interstate 55 motorists were injured, none seriously, by ricocheting bullets.

Antonine Brown, 25, of St. Louis, was fatally shot in the head about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday by a man with a high-powered assault rifle who opened fire from a car that pulled alongside Brown's, police said. Brown, whose vehicle came to rest against a concrete median, died at the scene.

Bullets that bounced off Brown's southbound car hit three vehicles heading in the opposite direction.

The suspects and their brownw 1988 Pontiac Bonneville remained at large Wednesday afternoon.

Authorities called the shooting planned and not random.