A bullet tore through the rear windshield of a car on Veterans Parkway and lodged in the driver’s-side headrest, missing a young child secured in a car seat by mere inches. Opelika police say the shot came from a black Ford F-250 that had tailed the victims’ vehicle for miles before opening fire, and officers have since arrested the truck’s registered owner.
According to wtvm.com, officers responded at about 6:42 p.m. last Friday to a report of a shooting into an occupied vehicle near Veterans Parkway and Water Street. The victims told police the truck had followed them from Highway 280 onto Waverly Parkway and then Veterans Parkway, with the driver repeatedly pulling alongside their car and tailing them closely before the shooting. As both vehicles neared Water Street, police say, the truck accelerated toward the victims’ rear bumper just before the gunfire.
Shot Narrowly Missed Child in Car Seat
The round broke the victims’ rear windshield and struck the driver’s-side headrest directly above where a young child was secured in a car seat, the same report states. The victims lost sight of the truck near Oak Bowery Road and called 911, prompting patrol units to respond to the scene.
Investigators reviewed dashcam footage recorded along Waverly Parkway from a patrol vehicle, and an officer confirmed the footage captured both the victims’ car and the suspect’s truck together. That lead pointed police toward a residence on North 10th Street, where an officer spotted the suspect vehicle parked in the driveway. Officers made contact with the truck’s registered owner, 46-year-old Benjamin Walker Herndon, at the address.
Charges and Recovered Firearm
Herndon was charged with shooting into an occupied vehicle and first-degree attempted assault, per the same wtvm.com account. Police said a suspected firearm was recovered at Herndon’s home, and the case remains under investigation.
Under Alabama law, first-degree assault is classified as a Class B felony, according to Alabama Legislature, Code of Alabama § 13A-6-20. Police have asked anyone with information about the incident to call 334-705-5220 or the Secret Witness hotline at 334-745-8665.
It’s not the first time Opelika police have investigated a firearm discharged into an occupied vehicle. In July 2023, officers responded to a similar call in the 300 block of 8th Street after a victim told police their rear passenger window had been shot out near 16th Street and 4th Avenue, having initially mistaken the sound for fireworks, the station’s earlier report noted.
As first reported by AL.com, Herndon was arrested after police said he fired into a vehicle, narrowly missing the child in the car seat. The outlet’s report was written by senior crime reporter Carol Robinson, who has covered public safety across more than 30 Alabama counties since beginning her journalism career at The Birmingham News in 1986.
