Ex-boyfriend thought woman was with other man, then shoots her son, FL cops say

A man thought his ex-girlfriend was with another man, then he chased her car down and shot her 7-year-old son in the back seat, Florida authorities said.

On Aug. 12, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of 32-year-old Sammie Lee Underwood III three days after the shooting.

Underwood’s ex-girlfriend told deputies Underwood met her and her two kids at a seafood restaurant in Callaway Aug. 9, then “he became upset as he believed she had another man in the vehicle with her,” according to the arrest affidavit.

She denied it, but he was “extremely irate” and didn’t believe her, deputies said. The woman then grabbed her son and daughter and left in her car.

Underwood started chasing them in his SUV and tried to run them off the road while firing off shots, the woman recounted, according to the affidavit.

Underwood eventually pulled up next to her and shot out the window at her car, then the woman said her 7-year-old son started screaming in the back seat, investigators said.

She fled Underwood again, but this time he didn’t follow her, deputies said. She drove to her sister’s, then the sister drove them to a hospital, according to investigators.

The boy was shot in the shoulder, then the bullet lodged in his back, according to the sheriff’s office. He’s recovering from the injury.

Law enforcement found Underwood’s SUV abandoned, but they searched for Underwood himself for two days before they spotted him leaving an apartment and getting in a vehicle, deputies said.

They followed him and conducted a “vehicle take-down,” then during his arrest he was found to have an array of drugs with him, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said.

Underwood is charged with:

• Four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon
• Aggravated battery with a deadly weapon
• Discharging a firearm from a vehicle
• Discharging a firearm into an occupied conveyance
• Hit and run, leaving the scene of an accident
• Tampering with evidence
• Grand theft of a firearm
• Felon in possession of a firearm
• Possession of fentanyl, hydrocodone, OxyContin, methamphetamine and marijuana less than 20 grams

Investigators said they also learned a woman had given Underwood a ride after the shooting and helped him get rid of the gun. She’s charged with accessory after the fact to a second-degree felony, violation of probation and possession of marijuana less than 20 grams.

Callaway is a suburb of Panama City in the Panhandle.