A 21-year-old man is accused of turning a Central Florida highway into the scene of a violent domestic dispute on Tuesday, allegedly chasing his ex-girlfriend in her car, firing at her vehicle, and setting off a crash that injured two civilians and a sheriff’s deputy. Law enforcement sources said the chaos kicked off an active search for the suspect while investigators worked the scene.
What authorities say
According to FOX 35 Orlando, the man allegedly opened fire on the woman's car during the pursuit, and the ensuing collision injured two people and a deputy. The outlet reported that authorities were still trying to track down the suspect and had not yet released his name or the exact stretch of highway where the chase began.
Potential legal consequences
Florida law treats shooting into an occupied vehicle as a serious felony. Section 790.19 of the Florida Statutes states that anyone who "shoots at, within, or into, or throws any missile or hurls or projects a stone or other hard substance which would produce death or great bodily harm, at, within, or in any public or private building, occupied or unoccupied, or public or private bus or any train, locomotive, railway car, caboose, cable railway car, street railway car, monorail car, or vehicle of any kind which is being used or occupied by any person, or any boat, vessel, ship, or barge lying in or plying the waters of this state, or aircraft flying through the airspace of this state shall be guilty of a felony of the second degree."
Where this fits in a broader pattern
Cases that start as intimate-partner conflicts and escalate into gunfire on public roadways are part of a larger domestic-violence problem in Florida. Data from the Florida Department of Health's FLHealth CHARTS show a statewide rate of reported domestic-violence offenses of 308.5 per 100,000 in 2024, and the Florida Department of Children and Families reports that 106,515 domestic-violence crimes were documented statewide in 2020. Both agencies note that many incidents never reach law enforcement, so official figures are widely understood to undercount the actual scope of intimate-partner violence; see the Florida Department of Children and Families for statewide resources and additional data.
Investigation ongoing
FOX 35 Orlando reported that investigators had not immediately released the suspect’s name and urged anyone with information to contact local law enforcement. Authorities have not yet disclosed potential charges or updated the public on the conditions of the injured civilians and the deputy beyond the initial reports from the scene.
