Authorities in Lake Mary, Florida have told the press that George Zimmerman was shot during what is believed to be a road rage incident earlier today. He suffered minor injuries to his face.
Appears to be bullet hole in window of vehicle at #GeorgeZimmerman shooting scene. Live video: http://t.co/ACSO4reED9 pic.twitter.com/i9IXDP0jvp
— WESH 2 News (@WESH) May 11, 2015
Video: George Zimmerman gets into ambulance after alleged shooting http://t.co/KIsTtFSb7U pic.twitter.com/Xi29TzXgXi
— WESH 2 News (@WESH) May 11, 2015
Officers told the press that Zimmerman suffered a minor gunshot wound during the incident; witnesses told local media that “He walked normally into the ambulance, so he wasn’t being helped or nothing. They actually backed up the ambulance next to his driver side so he could walk into the door.”
First Coast News jumped the gun with its first headline, choosing to wallow in the “here we go again” narrative:
…but quickly moved to change it after authorities confirmed that Zimmerman had indeed been shot (h/t @AmyA1A):
We’ll keep you updated as more news becomes available.
UPDATE: George Zimmerman has been treated at a hospital and released. It’s still unclear whether or not Zimmerman was actually hit by a bullet. Originally, authorities said that Zimmerman had suffered a minor gunshot wound; now, however, Zimmerman’s lawyer is saying that he was merely injured by breaking window glass.
George Zimmerman's attorney, Don West, on his condition after the shooting in Lake Mary today pic.twitter.com/LXaIvi0WIP
— Tiffany Walden (@TWalden_OS) May 11, 2015
UPDATE: As expected, this is a total mess.
A man named Matthew Apperson has been identified as the man who shot at Zimmerman. According to reports, Zimmerman and Apperson have had altercations in the past, and Zimmerman recognized his potential shooter. From CNN:
Attorney: Zimmerman recognized Apperson
Zimmerman attorney Don West told CNN that a driver behind Zimmerman began flashing his lights and honking his horn at him.“The man pulled up next to George yelling obscenities at him,” West said.
Zimmerman recognized Apperson as being someone he had a problem with several months ago.
According to West, Zimmerman raised his window and then the man shot at him.
The bullet went through Zimmerman’s side window and almost hit him in the head, West said. Zimmerman was hit by glass from the window, he said.
‘I shot George Zimmerman, call 911’
An employee at a nearby business, Kenneth Cornell, said he was exiting his car after lunch when a man drove up and started yelling about the shooting.The man, who identified himself as Apperson, shouted to Cornell: “I shot George Zimmerman, call 911. I don’t have a phone.”
Cornell said Apperson didn’t know whether Zimmerman was hurt. He called 911.
According to Cornell, Apperson told him that he and Zimmerman have had three disputes. This time, Zimmerman waved a gun, and Apperson shot at him, according to Cornell.
West, Zimmerman’s lawyer, denied that his client waved a gun. “George absolutely denies pointing a gun, displaying a gun — no aggressive movement toward him at all,” West said.
Police arrived minutes after he called 911, Cornell said. Police have not verified Cornell’s account to CNN.
Welcome to the George Zimmerman merry-mixer, people.
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Comments
On the radiator, they’re saying he was only hit by flying glass.
Not shot.
That’s what Don West, via WESH, is saying now too:
As for the circumstances, there’s an update at Action News as well:
Of course, those are just the current news reports… insert disclaimer about “variable and subject to change” here 🙂
He needs to change his name to something such as Gus Ziegler (that way he can still use his monogrammed hankies) and move to somewhere far away from Florida: a little off-the-beaten-path spot with a small population; maybe Hamilton, ID, population about 4,500. If he’s going to stay around Florida he should change his name and get some major cosmetic surgery!
Yeah, he should change it to Barrack Obama or Hillary Clinton…..
WhiteBlack Hispanic, George Zimmerman, injured in road rage incident in Lake Mary.#BlackLivesMatter
This is gold.
I’d like to know what “road rage” entails in this case…a back and forth or someone that recognized him and went after him.
I hope they catch the shooter for justice reasons and so we can hear his motives.
One of the first things that came to mind was a question about “road rage”. In the absence of witnesses or physical evidence, how would you tell road rage from an attempted murder? A single bullet through the passenger window towards the driver, as apparently shown in the picture, could fit both scenarios. And it is not as if Zimmerman is not tagged as a legitimate target of the Left, particularly the Black Left. Nor is there any chance that the Department of Justice would have any interest in catching anyone who shot Zimmerman.
As far as I know, the NBPP has not rescinded their bounty on him.
This was probably not a case of road rage, at least not in the usual sense of someone becoming angry at another’s bad or inconsiderate driving. The road rage incident happened last September, and it’s unlikely that they just happened to meet on the street today and develop road rage all over again for some reason. One of them most likely sought out the other, or happened upon the other and then targeted him for attack. The fact that Zimmerman THOUGHT he knew who shot at him, and that Apperson told someone “I shot George Zimmerman”, sounding definite about his identity (and believing that he hit his target), says something important. We’ll see.
There’s a news blurb somewhere that says the 911 caller was told by some dude that he had shot Zimmerman and that’s why the caller dialed 911. It always takes some time for the details to become known. Based on that account it would seem the shooter knew at whom he was aiming. I’d move out of FL and change my name, but I think Zimmerman lives for the drama at this point.
George has moved out of Florida according to his brother. He was there to see his mother for Mother’s Day.
I have a feeling that Apperson has been stalking George for some time.
On another blog which many people here do not like, a person that others have responded to as though he was Robert Zimmerman, has said the George no longer lives in Florida.
He happened to be there because he was visiting his mother who still lives there.
He should get his name off the Florida voter registration rolls if that’s the case, it looks like he was still included in the March 31, 2015 data.
If he were still in Florida, he might (might) qualify for public records exemption after this latest incident. He could try anyway: http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voting/public.shtml
I believe he just recently moved. After the Lake Mary police issued a press release with his phone number and address, it became obvious he had to move out of his dad’s house.
Because of our Sunshine Laws here, PhillyGuy, his address is a public record anyway, unless he can score a public records exemption. Which isn’t very easy to get: this is the standard form. So he’s already on publicly available databases.
As for the police disclosure, was that regarding one of his arrests for domestic violence or something? It’s not really the police department’s fault, they’re required to make most arrest and crime records open for public inspection, and if you see 1(c) here, “The name, sex, age, and address of a person arrested (but see s. G.10., infra, regarding confidentiality of juvenile records)” is usually included unless there’s some special exemption.
It’s an unfortunate situation for someone in Mr Zimmerman’s position, but that’s pretty much just the way it is. I have to say, I’d be seriously tempted to change my name if I were him. Yes, that’s a public record event too, but it would at least add an extra layer there.
He could easily change his name to something common like Jorge Martinez or John Smith. It would be a public record, but who could find him by searching for the name?
That’s a good idea, CharChar! With a name like Jorge Martinez or Rodriguez, he wouldn’t even be a needle in a haystack to find; he’d be a piece of hay in a haystack 🙂
That was indeed Robert Zimmerman. It has been verified long ago.
Rumor has it the shooter was Matthew Apperson.
If that name does not sound familiar, it should. That’s the guy that was involved in an incident with GZ last year.
It’s not a “rumor” – that was mentioned in the news conference the LM police gave.
Lawd, if it wasn’t for bad luck he’d have no luck at all.
I don’t know. Placement of that shot in the glass, and all he got was some spalling?
Sounds pretty lucky to me.
–Andrew, @LawSelfDefense
Still, he’s proved shockingly good at finding himself in the wrong places with the wrong people at the wrong times.
yes it is problematic when someone stalks him. The stalker has a way of showing up at the most inopportune moments with a gun.
…and all the other places, people, times?
I hope you’re steeling yourself for the new vomiting of SYG nonsense from the Mushroom Media around this, Andrew…
You know it’s coming. You know it is…
“Drive-Your-Ground”? 🙂
–Andrew, @LawSelfDefense
Sorry Rags this was for Amy…notice than nothing those women alleged stuck.
Huh? Yes, I’m quite aware of that. Arrests are just arrests; they mean nothing unless there are corresponding convictions. That’s why touting peoples’ “arrest records” without knowing what their actual conviction record is can be misleading. George is innocent! He’s just had an uncommon stretch of… bad luck. Like I originally said, he appears to be shockingly good at finding himself in the wrong places with the wrong people at the wrong times…
It will be interesting to see what authorites do about this guy who now qualifies as stalker.
I think he ‘qualifies’ for more than that. Maybe Assaulter With A Deadly Weapon and Attempted Murderer too.
Matthew Apperson did it. The morons and liars at Daily Kos are claiming Z was stalking him. Once again, it seems Zimmerman assaulted someone by sustaining a deadly attack first, the sly criminal mastermind, only this time he didn’t even strike back in any way, making it look like he is the victim! And the Kosians are saying that Apperson called the police, which is a lie; his coworker called the police after Apperson told him, “I shot George Zimmerman.”. Notice it’s “shot”, not “shot at’, while Z more or less simultaneously flagged down a cop. This was apparently first degree attempted murder
Damn white-Hispanic Svengali…
We are all just powerless flies in his diabolical web…!!!
Man this guy Apperson is a nut job. Reporters are asking his neighbors and they are painting a very creepy picture of him.
I’m guessing the shooter was an ex-girlfriend.
Guess again.
My curiosity got the better of me, so I looked Apperson up on the latest voter registration rolls… yep, looks like another registered Democrat! #WinningAtEverything 🙂
Interesting. Where does Florida publish its voter rolls?
Anyone can buy the full statewide CD from the Florida Division of Elections for $5, details are on the Florida Department of State website. There are people who then upload the CD’s database to the web, you’ll see them if you have a google around.
I concur with the other posters, sure looks like an assassination attempt.
Claim is that George was stalking and brandishing.
Will Apperson have have to testify to get a self defense instruction?
“Will Apperson have have to testify to get a self defense instruction?”
Unless they can get that needed testimony in front of the judge/jury some other way. I can’t think of any reasonable way that one would shoot through a glass passenger window at the driver in self defense, if he is claiming George was trying to shoot him, as oppose to run him off the road with the truck.
He has been claiming that Zimmerman was brandishing when he fired.
The question is can he get that in sufficiently to get the instruction without having to testify himself.
If he testifies all sorts of things from his background can come in which would almost certainly put him away.
How could he possibly get it in without testifying? What other evidence could possibly exist for it? Also, how does brandishing justify shooting?
Looking at Zimmerman’s truck it appears to be impossible for anyone to see Zimmerman brandishing a weapon inside it from the outside.
[sarcasm]
Old George is getting better at this. His stalking technique here was to get Apperson to follow him, pull up beside him, shout obscenities, and then shoot at him with apparent intent to kill (or inflict grave bodily injury), all the while maintaining a veneer of innocence. That is one heck of a stalking technique!
[/sarcasm]
Or … maybe Apperson has been holding a grudge for several months, and finally decided his best course of action was to find George and shoot him.
Both these scenarios can’t be true; we need to pick one. Personally, much as I admire George, I just don’t think he’s clever enough to invent that sophisticated stalking technique, so I guess my choice is obvious. YMMV.