TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — An 18-year-old gunman was arrested less than two hours after he opened fire on a woman’s car during a road-rage incident Thursday morning, according to authorities.
The Volusia Sheriff’s Office said the incident began when a woman driving along SR 415 around 6 a.m. encountered an erratic driver with no headlights on.
Authorities said the erratic car’s unsafe driving caused another vehicle to drive onto the shoulder to let it pass. The erratic driver then tried to pass the woman’s car but instead collided with her rear bumper.
“After that, the suspect drove alongside the victim’s SUV for several minutes before opening fire out of the driver’s window,” the sheriff’s office said in a release.
In total, the woman’s car was shot seven times. The woman was not injured.
Using “license plate reader technology,” detectives identified a suspect and were outside his house within 20 to 30 minutes after the shooting.
Around 8:25 a.m., authorities spotted the suspect, 18-year-old Bryan Holmes, getting in his car to back out of the driveway. He was quickly stopped by deputies.
When asked if he had a gun on him, Holmes said no.
“When his hands moved toward his waistline, a deputy grabbed Holmes’ arms, moved him away from the vehicle, and saw a handgun fall to the driveway,” a release from the sheriff’s office added.
In an interview with detectives, Holmes said the woman had cut him off in traffic, and he’d hit its rear bumper. He told authorities he fired several rounds into the vehicle in an attempt to hit the tires and disable the vehicle, according to the release.
He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm from a vehicle, shooting into an occupied vehicle, and possession of a concealed weapon used in the commission of a felony by a person under 24. He was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail with a bond of $40,000.
