The man who killed Trayvon Martin survived after sustaining bullet wounds to the head.
George Zimmerman, the volunteer neighborhood watchman who shot Martin back in 2012, was shot at while driving through a busy intersection in Lake Mary, FL.
The shooter is thought to be Matthew Apperson, a man with whom Zimmerman had an altercation with last year. Apperson accused Zimmerman of making threats against him during a bout of road rage.
Apperson and Zimmerman fought back in September. Apperson claimed that Zimmerman threatened to kill him after he had made a U-turn and wound up in an adjacent lane to Zimmerman.
But on March 11, Apperson shot into Zimmerman’s SUV, with the bullet just missing Zimmerman’s head. So far no arrests have been made.
Zimmerman’s wounds were described as “minor” by police. He was released from a hospital in Sanford after having his facial wounds treated. According to Zimmerman’s personal injury attorney, Don West, the injuries were likely caused by the flying glass and other debris that resulted from the shooting.
Yet the interaction between Zimmerman and Apperson remains unclear. Apperson claims that he was acting in self defense, though police are still investigating a link between the shooting and last year’s road rage altercation between Zimmerman and Apperson.
According to the American Safety Council, aggressive driving plays a role in 66% of traffic fatalities. Each year, road crashes, including those caused by road rage, cost the country $230.6 billion or $820 per person.
The death of Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, sparked a national outcry when Zimmerman was not immediately arrested and was later acquitted due to Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law. However, Zimmerman was eventually found not guilty despite public attitudes on the incident.
Since then, Zimmerman has been involved in a number of incidents with law enforcement. Although a fight with his wife resulted in no charges, he was charged with aggravated assault against an ex-girlfriend and aggravated assault, battery and criminal mischief against another girlfriend at the time in a separate incident.
