He got into a Miami traffic dispute, then pulled a gun and fired, dashcam video shows
Dashcam video of a road rage incident last year in Miami just emerged — and it may make you want to hide under your car seat for a while.
In the video, made public Saturday by talk show host Andy Slater, a driver, later identified as 30-year-old Eric Popper, can be seen repeatedly shooting at another driver in Miami around 7 a.m. June 21, 2021. Warning: It’s a scene that looks like something out of the Wild, Wild West.
The disturbing incident reportedly began when Popper’s Toyota Venza changed lanes and cut off a Toyota Camry going south near Northwest 151st Street on I-95. Annoyed, the other driver beeped and threw a water bottle, according to a police report.
“When the victim honked his horn, the defendant shouted an expletive and abruptly applied his brakes,” the complaint says, adding the matter quickly escalated. “The victim tailgated the defendant for a short time and made hand gestures out of his driver’s window.”
In the black and white clip, you can hear Popper say, “Oh my God,” then looks in his rear view mirror to see where the Camry is headed.
The Deerfield Beach resident waits until the other driver passes him, and with a gun drawn out of the center console, aims and fires through the right front passenger door and then through the windshield. Popper shot 11 rounds, police say.
The former civilian fire inspector with the Miami Beach Fire Department quit on July 21 when he turned himself in to authorities. Popper is out on bond, facing felony charges, including aggressive assault with a firearm. He faces up to 14 years in prison.
The other driver, who was unarmed, was amazingly, not hurt. His name has not been released.
The suspect’s lawyer, Robert Gershman, told NBC Miami that he believed the water bottle hitting his car was gunfire and he feared for his safety.
“You hear a bang on Mr. Popper’s car, akin to a gunshot, which precipitated the whole incident, so in this matter, the audio and video evidence we believe exonerates him,” Gershman said.
Popper’s hearing is set for April.
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 1:10 PM.
