A 63-year-old man was arrested Wednesday evening after authorities say he opened fire on a car carrying three teenagers during a road rage confrontation, striking one of them in the leg.
According to a Clay County Sheriff’s Office arrest report, deputies responded around 5:40 p.m. on Wednesday to 911 calls reporting an active road rage incident in the 2400 block of Blanding Boulevard.
Callers reported that shots had been fired from a black Chevrolet pickup truck into a black sedan. The sedan then drove directly to the emergency room at HCA Middleburg.
Deputies made contact at the hospital with the 18-year-old driver of the sedan, who was being treated for a fresh gunshot wound to the outside of his right thigh.
Two passengers were also inside the vehicle at the time of the shooting — a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old. Detectives interviewed all three victims at the hospital.
Deputies later located the pickup truck traveling near the scene and took the driver, Ruben Rodriguez, 63, of Middleburg, into custody without incident.
Deputies reported seeing a black-and-tan semi-automatic handgun in plain view between the driver’s seat and the center console.
A heavily redacted police report indicates that Rodriguez waived his Miranda rights and spoke to detectives.
It appears that he suggested that he was fired at first, but the paperwork notes that there was no evidence of gun damage to his truck.
The bulk of his statements are blacked out, and no further information was available about what led to the confrontation.
Deputies determined that Rodriguez — who does not appear to have a prior criminal history in Clay County — had opportunities to disengage with the teens or call police rather than open fire.
He now faces with three counts of attempted homicide.
