ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Lawyers for a New Jersey detective charged with killing a Maryland man say their client thought he, his wife and three children were in danger when he fired his gun during a confrontation fueled by road rage.

But Anne Arundel County prosecutors say investigator Joseph Walker didn’t have to shoot Joseph Harvey as they faced off on the Millersville entrance ramp to Interstate 97 on June 8, 2013.

Walker’s first-degree murder trial in Annapolis entered its second day of testimony Tuesday.

The dispute began when Walker’s minivan cut off Harvey’s car. Prosecutors acknowledged in an opening statement Monday that Harvey, who is white, screamed at Walker as they drove, even calling the black detective a racial epithet.

The trial is scheduled through Aug. 11.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.