ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Monday morning was a new kind of traffic nightmare in St. Johns County after St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office deputies say 62-year-old Samuel O’Neal Gardner pointed a gun at fellow drivers on Interstate 95 southbound around 9:30 a.m.
Investigators said Monday that Gardner fired off a few shots, but they’re unsure if he aimed at other drivers on I-95.
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Rodneshia Jones saw the entire thing unfold first-hand, capturing shocking video of the encounter after driving right alongside Gardner on I-95 during the incident.
“I’d heard a pop like before we got on [the] side of each other, but I didn’t really pay any mind, and I heard another one,” Jones said. “I was like, ‘Wait a minute, what’s that?’ And I look to my right, and I see he has the gun out the window.”
SJSO said deputies attempted to pull Gardner over on I-95 southbound, but he instead turned the gun toward deputies and led them on a chase.
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“I got off on the exit and I really just sat there and tried to decompress. You know, I cried,” Jones told Action News Jax after the incident. “I was very, very shaken up, because you don’t expect to look to your right and see a gun, you know, out of someone’s window.”
SJSO said Monday Gardner was airlifted to the hospital after crashing into another vehicle and getting taken down by a sheriff’s office K9.
The incident snarled traffic on I-95 for hours for drivers like Taylor Starr.
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“I travel on this road almost once a month because my parents live in Orlando and I actually live in Jacksonville,” Starr said. “So, I mean, I’ve heard a lot of crazy things, but to have somebody just stop and pointing guns is a little insane.”
According to investigators, Gardner now faces charges of aggravated fleeing, three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, reckless driving, and improper exhibition of a firearm.
Florida Highway Patrol is now assisting the sheriff’s office’s investigation into what led up to the incident.
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