Florida Road Rage Shooting, A man was arrested for attempted second-degree murder after shooting two toddlers in road rage. Six months after he was engaged in a road rage incident that resulted in injuries to two children in October, the State Attorney’s Office has filed charges against a man in connection with the incident. William Hale was charged with three counts of attempted murder in the second degree, three counts of aggravated assault, and one act of firing into a car. All of these charges were stacked against him. The driver of an SUV who fired the first shot was also taken into custody and was charged with attempted murder; however, the State Attorney’s Office later decided to withdraw the prosecution against him.
The event began in Duval County and continued over a distance of many miles along U.S. 1 close to Callahan. Both Hale and the other motorist were reportedly operating their vehicles in an unsafe manner, as stated by the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office. The car that Hale was operating, a black Dodge Ram pickup truck with five people inside, was being followed by another vehicle, a gray Nissan Murano sport utility vehicle with three people inside. According to the NCSO, at some time Hale got out of his vehicle, pulled alongside the Murano, rolled down a window, and started yelling at the driver of the Nissan to stop the vehicle. According to NCSO, after that, Hale’s wife rolled down a window and made an offensive gesture. The driver of the SUV then pulled down his window and yelled at the other motorist when a plastic water bottle was thrown from the Ram into the Nissan. Both drivers were in their vehicles at the time.
A witness informed the officers that Hale was the aggressor and that he attempted to force the other motorist off the road. This information was provided to the deputies by the witness. The sheriff’s office said that the driver of the Nissan then pulled out his.45-caliber semi-automatic pistol and fired one shot at the Ram. The bullet entered the vehicle via the rear passenger door on the right side and injured Hale’s daughter, who was five years old. The Nissan driver then sped away. According to the sheriff, Hale realized she was shot as the Murano sped away, so he sped closer to the Murano and began firing several shots from his Glock 43 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun.
One of those shots went through the rear of the vehicle and struck the Nissan driver’s 14-year-old daughter in the back, causing her to suffer from a collapsed lung. Hale then sped away from the scene. As it is a criminal violation to hurl an item at a moving car, the State Attorney’s office said that it decided to withdraw the case that had been brought against the driver of the Nissan since it was determined that he acted in self-defense in accordance with the Stand Your Ground legislation. On April 20th, Hale is going to appear in court to face his charges.