A traffic stop on I-95 late Thursday turned into a pursuit and an exchange of gunfire. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, and both directions of the interstate stayed shut through Friday morning.
Florida Highway Patrol said the traffic stop that began the sequence occurred about 11:20 p.m. Thursday near mile marker 138, while the shooting was near mile marker 141, WPTV reported. By noon Friday, sheriff's officials said every lane was open again.
From Stop To Gunfire
Patrol said the driver fled the stop. The pursuit escalated into an exchange of gunfire between the trooper and the driver, WFLX reported.
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. FHP said the injuries appeared to be from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. That description is not a finding on who fired. WPTV reported that investigators had not determined who fired the shot that killed the driver, and that question is under investigation.
The person's name has not been released. No troopers were injured, CBS12 reported. Authorities had not released further incident information.
Who Has The Case
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is leading the investigation, WPBF reported. The Indian River County Sheriff's Office had described the post-shooting closure of I-95 in both directions while that work was underway.
Patrol's public account stops at the traffic stop, the flight, the exchange of gunfire, a wound that appeared self-inflicted, and a death at the scene. The agency that now has the case has not identified the driver or said who fired the fatal shot.
A Highway Split At The County Line
The mile marker is the detail the outlets share. Vero News placed the stop shortly before 11:20 p.m. on I-95 in St. Lucie County. WPTV placed the stop near mile marker 138 and the shooting near mile marker 141. Other reports, including WPTV, described the shooting and the shutdown as an Indian River County investigation at that same marker.
The detours sat on both sides of that line. Northbound drivers were sent off I-95 at Indrio Road in St. Lucie County, and that diversion was still in effect as of 9 a.m. Friday. Southbound drivers were directed off at Oslo Road in Indian River County, also as of 9 a.m. WFLX reported those exits while the highway was closed.
Sheriff's officials told Vero News that all lanes had reopened by noon Friday. WPTV later reported the same change: the interstate that had been shut in both directions was moving again.
A Separate St. Lucie Closure
Thursday's pursuit is not the August 2025 standoff farther south. At about 11:15 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, authorities closed I-95 in St. Lucie County between Orange Avenue and Okeechobee Road for several hours, CBS12 reported, during an encounter with a man suspected in a Palm Beach County homicide.
Officials said the man exited holding a firearm to his own head and later advanced toward deputies with the firearm. Troopers had stopped his vehicle about 11:15 p.m. the night before with a maneuver meant to force it to stop. He was fatally shot by law enforcement about 1:13 a.m., just south of Orange Avenue. That case remains a separate one.
On this interstate, the lanes are open again. FDLE still has the question of who fired the shot that killed the driver, and the name has not been released.
