Cars shot at, damaged along two major Florida highways on New Year’s Day, deputies say
More than a dozen drivers were shot at in three different counties while traveling along two major highways in Central Florida — and deputies are searching for the ones responsible.
It happened on New Year’s Day.
The victims were traveling eastbound on Interstate 4 and northbound on Interstate 95 when they were shot at by a passing vehicle, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies say the calls came in shortly before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The first shootings happened along I-4 in Seminole County, WFTV reports. Then calls came in east to I-95 and north to the Flagler County line.
Audio recordings of the first 911 calls about the shooting were released Thursday. Most of the shootings happened in Volusia County, according to Miami Herald news partner CBS4.
One of the first callers said he was driving eastbound on I-4 toward Deltona with his daughters when a brown pickup truck with tinted windows pulled up alongside him and someone inside began shooting. The truck then took off.
“And nothing happened prior to the shooting? Did they try to say anything was there road rage or anything like that?” the dispatcher asked.
“No,” the man said.
His 2018 blue Toyota Camry has three bullet holes, he told dispatch.
It wasn’t long before the second call came in.
A woman told dispatch the driver side windows of her red van “exploded” while she was driving on I-4 towards Palm Coast in Flagler County.
“It was dark and the next thing I knew there was glass shattering all over my face,” she said. She was near the exit to Orange City, which is part of the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach metropolitan area.
“Another vehicle said they heard a large bang and their whole back window shattered,” said a Florida Highway Patrol dispatcher who was looped into the call.
“Oh my God, so it wasn’t just me,” the woman said.
Within a few hours Thursday, the sheriff’s office had increased the amount of damaged vehicles from 12 to 15.
“Reports have continued to come in this morning,” the sheriff’s office said in an email.
Some of the damaged vehicles were found by Deltona, DeLand and Daytona Beach on I-95 north in the Ormond area, according to the sheriff’s office. Some were shot multiple times. At least eight of them were shot at in the eastbound lanes of I-4.
One caller said his vehicle was shot on I-95 near Daytona Beach International Airport.
No one was injured.
.jpg "Image 4 (1).jpg")
Based on the preliminary investigation, deputies believe the shooter or shooters used a BB or pellet gun. Most of the vehicles’ side and rear windows were damaged, along with some minor body damage, said a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.
“Witness accounts vary, including the suspect vehicle description,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook. “We will continue working with our partners in DeLand and Daytona and provide updates in the future as they’re available.”
The Florida Highway Patrol’s Jacksonville division is also investigating the shootings.
Anyone with information about the incidents in Volusia County is asked to call Detective Pullin at 386-860-7030, or call the sheriff’s office non-emergency line at 386-248-1777.
This story was originally published January 2, 2020 at 10:17 AM.
