JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A shooting Monday morning on Interstate 295 between Blanding and Roosevelt boulevards was likely a case of road rage, a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office report indicates.
Lt. Evander Collier said during a media briefing that a driver called police about 10:15 a.m. to report he had been shot. He told officers a silver newer-model Ford Taurus pull alongside his black Nissan Murano and started shooting. At least three shots hit the vehicle and one struck the driver. He was treated at the scene by rescue personnel but refused to be transported to a hospital, saying he would seek medical attention later. A passenger in the SUV was not injured.
The driver swerved and his SUV was struck by a tractor-trailer. The SUV sustained major damage but the big rig had minor damage.
Police said during the media briefing that the victim told officers he didn’t know why anyone would be shooting at him, and there was no indication it was the result of road rage. The police report, however, indicates the shooting was likely a case of road rage.
According to the incident report, the victim was at first uncooperative, saying he had no license and didn’t want to go to jail. When officers persisted in their questioning, the report said, he admitted he cut off a white Ford Flex on I-295, and the other driver started tailgating him and flipped him off. The victim also admitted he knew the driver, who may have been mad at him over some past incident, police said. He would not identify the driver.
The victim said he was trying to get away from the driver, cut off a gold-colored car and then he realized he had been shot. The passenger in the Nissan Murano told JSO they were being followed by two cars, the white Ford Flex and a silver Ford Taurus, suggesting two cars may have been cut off near Blanding Boulevard. The passenger said the driver of the silver Ford Taurus pulled alongside, rolled down the window and started shooting, according to the police report.
The victim was ticketed for driving without a license.
A witness gave JSO the tag number of the silver Ford Taurus, KCFJ51, which checks to a rental car, the police report shows.
Collier also said it had no apparent connection to a shooting of a man in a car on I-295 between San Jose Old St. Augustine Road just after 2 a.m. Sunday. According to that incident report, a man had pulled over to report that he had been in a hit-and-run crash when a man wearing a hoodie walked up, pointed a handgun at him and fired several shots. The victim was taken to Memorial Hospital and was expected to recover.
JSO violent crime detectives are investigating. Anyone who witnessed either shooting is asked to call police at 904-630-0500.