New Mexico police have taken a man into custody after a four-year-old girl was shot and killed in an apparent road rage dispute.

Lilly Garcia, her father and her brother were travelling on an Albuquerque motorway on Tuesday when another car pulled up beside their vehicle and a gunman opened fire.

Police said it was unclear what caused the incident to escalate.

Authorities appealed for the public’s help to find the gunman.

A storm washed away potential clues and witnesses at the scene also gave conflicting accounts, complicating the search, police said.

Police would not say whether the man they took into custody was a suspect, but the man matched the description police gave of the gunman.

Lilly Garcia’s father – who has not been named – told officers the shooting was the result of road rage, police said.