LAKE COUNTY, Fla. -- The driver of a car believed to be involved in a shooting incident on a Florida highway has been arrested on attempted murder charges, police said.
The incident occurred Saturday morning, on Florida's Turnpike in Lake County.
A 37-year-old man and a 17-year-old woman were traveling southbound in a Chevy Impala at around 10:15 a.m. when someone opened fire on their car near mile marker 272 by someone traveling in a gray Toyota Camry, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Troopers today arrested Kwanza Jermaine Donald, 33, of Orlando, and charged him with two counts of attempted murder. He was being booked into the Lake County Jail late this afternoon.
After reviewing surveillance video, troopers identified a 2003 Camry belonging to Donald as being in the area at the time of the shooting and matching the description given by the victims, according to Sgt. Kim Montes of the FHP.
Donald contacted law enforcement today and after troopers interviewed him, he was placed under arrest, Montes said. According to the FHP, a handgun was located in his car.
According to the arrest warrant, Donald allegedly told police he was "just defending himself because someone was trying to kill him." He allegedly told police he had been commuting back and forth from Florida to a job in Houston, and on his most recent trip back from Texas, someone started shooting at him "in Texas and again in Georgia."
He allegedly said he fired three times at the victims' vehicle because it resembled the car of the people who were shooting at him, according to the arrest warrant.
Both victims were transported to the Orlando Regional Medical Center with minor injuries. Their Chevy Impala has 12 bullet holes on its right side, the highway patrol said.
The victims described the incident to police as road rage, which is how the FHP originally approached it, calling it an apparent case of road rage.
Officials initially said the two were shot, but after doctors examined them, it was determined that none of the bullets hit them directly. They were injured by glass, and bullet and metal fragments, according to the highway patrol.
