A Ponte Vedra Beach physician and longtime resident of the exclusive Sawgrass community was arrested Saturday evening after allegedly firing a gun during a road rage confrontation with a group of local high school athletes, The Citizen has learned.
Dr. Bruce L. Mitchell, 67, who served as director of Hospital Medicine at Emory University according to his LinkedIn profile, now faces two felony charges after deputies say he discharged a firearm from his vehicle at the teenagers during a chaotic chase.
Before joining Emory, Mitchell worked at the the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, for 14 years, according to a professional biography.
According to court papers, the confrontation began around 5:15 p.m., when five teenage boys — all student-athletes at a private Jacksonville high school — were driving along A1A in Ponte Vedra Beach.
The Citizen is not releasing their names because they are minors. Mitchell didn’t return a request for comment.
The quintet admitted to deputies that they were “throwing cheese” out of their vehicle windows as a prank while waiting at a light at Ponte Vedra Boulevard and Sawgrass Drive East, but what followed didn’t induce any chuckles.
A black Range Rover, later identified as Mitchell’s vehicle, allegedly began tailing the teens aggressively, swerving across lanes and briefly swerving out of the roadway to get closer to the terrified targets.
The teens then reported seeing Mitchell brandish a black pistol and yell something at them before squeezing off a round in the air.
As his friends ducked down in their seats, the driver told police that he hit the gas because he “didn’t want to die.”
Fearing they were about to be shot or run off the road, the teens continued to speed down A1A, weaving through traffic and attempting to evade the SUV.
One of the teens told cops that he “was in fear for his and his friends’ lives” during Mitchell’s pursuit and that they called 911 during the chase.
The physician stopped trailing the group after spotting police cruisers in the area and began driving in a different direction.
Deputies conducted a felony traffic stop on the Range Rover shortly afterward.
Mitchell allegedly exited his vehicle without being asked, documents show.
A pair of officers “pointed our agency-issued firearms at the subject,” papers state. “I then gave loud verbal commands to walk backwards to the sound of my voice,” a deputy wrote in a report.
Mitchell complied, and was taken into custody.
A search of his vehicle uncovered a black Sig Sauer pistol in the glovebox, a loaded magazine on the front passenger seat, and two loose live rounds, including one ejected onto the floorboard and another on the seat, papers state.
Deputies reported that Mitchell said at one point that “they shot at me first” before invoking his right to remain silent.
No weapons were found in the teens’ vehicle, and investigators said they found no evidence to support Mitchell’s claim.
The five teens were interviewed by police at the Mickler’s Beach parking lot and gave sworn statements .
Each participated in a positive identification of Mitchell and his vehicle at the scene.
The doctor was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and discharge of a firearm from a vehicle, both felony offenses under Florida law.
He was booked into the St. Johns County Jail and later released on bond.
Mitchell lives in Sawgrass with his wife, a Harvard graduate and senior executive at Cox Communications.
Emory University didn’t immediately return an email request for comment. A spokesperson for Mayo Clinic said Mitchell’s employment there ended in late 2009.
“We’re aware of media reports of current charges against him, which are unrelated to his past employment with us,” the spokesperson added.
16 Responses
Was he really fired from his job at Emory? A Google review at https://g.co/kgs/8LT54rK says he was.
I’m glad those teens didn’t get killed by him. He sounds unstable.
A clear case of these out of control white boys harassing a black man for no reason and they get to walk away . Just like the white boy swinging a machete at the beaches library at voters and getting away with it. It’s always they were just having a little fun . Shame on anyone defending this .
I’m saddened by this whole story. What the teens did was definitely wrong and they should be held accountable. I do not agree with the gun but you never know how the doctor was feeling while they were throwing things at his car. I pray the best for all involved.
The boys are children, and color isn’t a thing in this incident. This was a grown man with road rage shooting at children! That’s not ok.
I didn’t know they were white. It does sound like they were innocent to me. Why would a man black or white with his education? Do something so stupid.
Why did you emphasize white? Are you racist?
“ The quintet admitted to deputies that they were “throwing cheese” out of their vehicle windows as a prank while waiting at a light at Ponte Vedra Boulevard and Sawgrass Drive East.” My question is what else were the quintet doing that we have not heard??? I do not agree the doctor should have fired off a firearm. However, by the same token I believe the teens did something either to him personally or his vehicle that set the wheels in motion for what was to come. A kerfuffle of sorts and other actions that caused the teens to fear for their lives. Actions of which were initiated clearly and wholly on the teens part and by their admittance. This is leaving to question if they admitted to everything they initially did. My opinion is and remains I personally do not believe the teens are innocent in the occurrence. It goes to show you never know who or what you are confronting on the roads. He could have very easily unloaded if he so chose in their vehicle. To the doctor’s credit he restrained. Possibly saving them from a later worse case scenario. Hopefully, this is a lesson they will never forget.
So the teens that started it get off with nothing. I am sure they were white. They should face consequences of hate targeting.
For every action there is a reaction. Sometimes we dont like the response. No one never knows another person’s trauma or what will trigger them that’s why I stopped blowing horn when a driver cut me off. Its just an unfortunate situation.
Soooo nothing happens to the teens who threw cheese as he was driving as aprank?
Several Sundays ago around 9PM my husband and I were returning home from dinner on Ponte Vedra Boulevard in Duval County just yards away from the St. Johns County line. Two teen males were standing behind a row of large hedges and threw something at our car, scaring both of us and running away. I pulled into the first driveway and my husband knocked on the door to ask if the owner of the home if they had teen boys in their family. They did not and they suggested they lived further north of their home. We found a huge hunk of unwrapped American cheese on the side and roof of our car. Never found the delinquent males but they lacked the intelligence of how this stunt could have affected my driving. I am 73 years old and their actions could have caused an accident. So residents beware, apparently the go to projectile of meanacing teens is none other than American cheese. At least they used a cheese that is made in America
It was flipping cheese for god’s sake! Get over it. This man was shooting a weapon not the same as throwing darn cheese, they should not have thrown the cheese but does they mean they deserve to be shot at? Why are yall agreeing with this dangerous man? Because he drives a Range Rover and went to Havard? Absolutely nothing to do with race. Drop the race card.
People will never drop the race card. Pranks or pranks they’re not attempted murder.
The teens were the aggressors. The doctors acted in a manner to say, Stop and Halt. Leave me alone. I am a Black man and you white boys are abusing me as I mind my own business at a stop light. The doctor responded as a black man in our society would respond after being taunted by white boys, not knowing what else the white boys would do. I am a white woman and if I were on the jury my stance would be the doctor was trying to protect himself; and I would want the white boys to be accountable. I would bring the parents into court……..
I do not believe it was racially motivated at all. However, these kids are out of control and think that there are no repercussions for their actions. Yes , firing a weapon was a bit excessive but people are just sick and tired of these teens doing whatever they want to people scaring them damaging property, whatever they want. They think they are funny. They are not funny.
The man claims they shot first . I wonder if the police did a search of the area where a gun may have been tossed out the window? Should someone else find this , could mean more trouble. Sounds to me like these so called children who are driving are not telling the whole truth
Rage generally produces regrettable acts.
You do not chase others down with a gun and fire it off.
This is not self defense.