An Osceola County rideshare driver experienced a harrowing ordeal as a dispute over a tip escalated into gunfire, thankfully resulting in no injuries. The accused shooter, 21-year-old Alexis Encarnacion-Rosado, is currently held at the Osceola County Jail, facing multiple charges, including shooting into an occupied vehicle and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The incident unfolded on January 1, according to an arrest report, when the driver, Muhammad Mahmood, agreed to make a food stop for Encarnacion-Rosado, which spanned nearly half an hour prompting Mahmood to suggest additional compensation wherein Encarnacion-Rosado reportedly became infuriated, resorting to spitting and invectives following the dispute over the tip, this ultimately led to Encarnacion-Rosado exiting the vehicle and proceeding to open fire as Mahmood fled in terror. The gunfire left Mahmood’s car heavily damaged with seven bullets striking the rear driver's side and several more piercing through the vehicle’s interior, including the back seat, passenger seat, and shattering the rear window.
"He was not firing in the air. He was firing on me," Mahmood stated, as reported by FOX 35 Orlando. He recounted the chilling experience: "I was really trembling because any bullet can go anywhere," indicating the close calls with several bullets, including one that Mahmood claimed to have found between his legs on the driver's seat after escaping the violent interaction unscathed.
While Mahmood expresses gratitude for his survival and is currently with his family, he hasn’t returned to his job as a rideshare driver, almost two weeks after the incident Mahar expressed, as per FOX 35 Orlando, "You have seen my car. It was all around me," and "God saved me," as he reflects on the ordeal that could have cost him his life.
Meanwhile, the investigation led to Encarnacion-Rosado’s arrest, with detectives tracking him down through a fingerprint discovered within the vehicle, securing charges that now await him in the court of law as he stands held on a bond set at $21,500, as WESH detailed.
