Police: Zimmerman, alleged road rage attacker both had guns

Greg Toppo | USATODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Hear 911 call from the George Zimmerman shooting George Zimmerman, the man acquitted for killing unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012, was shot at by a man in Lake Mary, Florida. Hear the 911 call from the incident.

Police in the central Florida city where George Zimmerman suffered minor injuries in an apparent road rage incident said the suspect in the shooting had two guns in his car at the time — and that Zimmerman also had a gun.

Lake Mary, Fla., Police on Tuesday said search warrants for both vehicles in the Monday incident revealed that the suspect, Matthew Apperson, had two handguns — a 40 caliber Glock 22 and a 357 revolver with one expended shell casing — in his vehicle.

Police said they also recovered a Glock handgun from Zimmerman, but that they hadn't searched his vehicle.

Both men had the guns legally, police said. Detectives were still investigating and no charges had been filed against either man. A police spokeswoman said the shooting took place at "a busy time of day on a very busy street." They were asking anyone with more information to come forward.

Zimmerman, 31, who won a controversial acquittal in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, was treated for minor injuries early Monday afternoon, after he was shot at while driving his pickup truck in Lake Mary, police said. Zimmerman and Apperson appeared to have been involved in a previous road rage encounter, they said.

A lone bullet fired into the passenger-side window of Zimmerman's truck apparently missed him, but he was hit in the face by flying glass and debris, said his lawyer, Don West. Zimmerman was treated and released from Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford.

West said Zimmerman did not draw his weapon and was trying to get away when the shot was fired.

Police said Zimmerman flagged down an officer to report the shooting shortly before 1 p.m., and that Apperson called 911 to report the shooting.

In an audio recording of a 911 call released on Tuesday by Lake Mary Police, an unidentified man tells a dispatcher, "A guy just said he had to pull a gun on a guy … he had to shoot at somebody."

Questioned further by the dispatcher, the unidentified caller says Apperson is standing by the side of the road nearby. "He's driving an Infinity. He said it was George Zimmerman."

Last September, Apperson said Zimmerman threatened to kill him, asking "Do you know who I am?" during a confrontation in their vehicles. Apperson did not pursue charges, and police were unable to move forward without a car tag identified or witnesses, Associated Press reported.

Zimmerman, who no longer lives in Central Florida, was in town for Mother's Day and on his way to a doctor's appointment when Apperson began following him, West said. He said Apperson followed Zimmerman and at one point stuck his head out of his car and yelled, West said.

Soon after, Zimmerman made a U-turn in an attempt to get away, West said. Apperson also made a U-turn and followed Zimmerman for several seconds, the lawyer said.

"As they were headed the other direction, he (Apperson) pulled up alongside George's vehicle, pulled a gun and fired a shot into the interior compartment of the vehicle," West said. "He broke the passenger window and the bullet lodged inside somewhere up where George was sitting."

"It was terrifying," West said, describing Zimmerman as being "almost killed.''

"There's really no explanation, I don't think, for what this guy did," West said. "I don't know what his intent was.''

TV news images showed what appeared to be a single bullet hole in the passenger side window of a pickup truck said to be Zimmerman's. "But for the assassin's poor aim, our brother would lie slain," Robert Zimmerman, George Zimmerman's brother, said.

Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch volunteer when he encountered Martin, a black, unarmed 17-year-old, in Zimmerman's gated community in nearby Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26, 2012. The tragedy that ensued set off protests across the nation and thrust "stand-your-ground" laws into the public spotlight.

Zimmerman has had several brushes with the law since his July 2013 acquital. In January, he was accused of assault by a girlfriend, but she recanted and no charges were filed.

In September 2013, his estranged wife, Shellie, called 911, claiming he had punched her father and was threatening her with a gun. She did not press charges. Two months later, Zimmerman was arrested and accused of domestic violence by girlfriend Samantha Scheibe. Scheibe dropped the charges.

West said Zimmerman lives at an undisclosed location.

"Since the Trayvon Martin incident, he's always had reason to be afraid," West said. "I was hoping after the federal government chose not to pursue the civil rights charges that it would sort of quietly go away and that he would be able to live a more normal life. But, obviously that's not the case."