Zimmerman alleged road-rage victim
LAKE MARY, Fla. – George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who had a series of run-ins with girlfriends, his ex-wife and random strangers since killing an unarmed black teenager, narrowly missed getting shot Monday after a mysterious dispute.
The dispute this time was with the same man authorities said was involved in a road-rage incident with Zimmerman last year. A bullet missed his head, spraying glass from the vehicle’s windshield, said his attorney, Don West. He said the bullet lodged somewhere in the vehicle. He was treated at a hospital and released.
No charges were immediately filed against either man.
Lake Mary police Officer Bianca Gillett said during a news conference Monday Matthew Apperson called 911 to report the shooting shortly after Zimmerman flagged down an officer to say someone shot at him. Both Zimmerman and Apperson have yet to be interviewed formally by investigators, she said.
“We have not determined how or why the incident or altercation began,” Gillett said.
A woman who answered the phone at the disability-benefits business where Apperson works asked a reporter never to call again. Nobody answered the door at his Winter Springs condominium, where there is a “for sale” sign out front and a lock box on the door.
Last September, Apperson said Zimmerman threatened to kill him, asking “Do you know who I am?” during a confrontation in their vehicles.
Apperson decided not to pursue charges, and police officers were unable to move forward without a car tag identified or witnesses.
“I explained to Matthew that without the tag, witnesses, and/or clear video identifying the driver as George Zimmerman, it might be difficult to prove the alleged suspect was in fact Zimmerman,” the Lake Mary police officer wrote in a report last September.
West said before the news conference Zimmerman thought he knew who was responsible for the shooting and is cooperating with authorities.
Zimmerman was acquitted in the February 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in a case that sparked protests and national debate about race relations. The Justice Department later announced it was not bringing a civil rights case against Zimmerman.