JULINGTON CREEK, Fla. – A 22-year-old Jacksonville man was accused of three counts of attempted murder Friday after a man and a woman were shot after a fight broke out between motorists who pulled off Race Track Road in St. Johns County.
The road-rage shooting happened just after 11 a.m. near a shopping center near Julington Creek, according to the Sheriff's Office. A few minutes after occupants of the two vehicles got into an argument while driving, they pulled into a bank parking lot and got into a physical confrontation. After getting back in the vehicles and circling around, deputies said that Charles Michael Mohr fired several shots into the second vehicle when it circled around.
A third person in the car drove shooting victims Travis Averett and Aaliyah Green, both 21, to Baptist South. Both were transferred to UF Health Jacksonville, where they were reported in critical condition.
St. Johns County Cmdr. Chuck Mulligan said investigators questioned the potential gunman, later identified as Muhr. He was then booked into the St. Johns County Jail on three counts of attempted murder.
Justin Louque, who was working at an auto shop nearby, heard the gunshots and saw a Saturn speeding away from a bank and he first thought it had been a robbery. The car pulled over and a young man got out with a gun.
"I told him to put it on the ground and he was screaming for help and he walked about 15 yards away from the gun and dropped down and raised his hands. I had an employee of mine go get a gun just in case, so I held him at gunpoint until police arrived," Louque said. "He said they were running him off the road and they were assaulting him. He was highly distraught. You could tell he'd gotten beaten up. He kept saying, ''What would you have done?'"
Louque said he asked the Mohr what happened.
“He said it was road rage and they were running him off the road, and they were assaulting him," Louque said.
Witnesses to the incident said it was scary.
"I heard about 10 gunshots. We thought it was a bank robbery," Jim Bagnadi said. "What is crazy is, we didn’t even move. We should’ve ran for cover, but all the sudden, the Mazda 3 came by with its windows down. I heard a female voice say that she had been shot."
Mohr is being held on no bond pending a first appearance hearing Saturday morning.
Detectives are going through surveillance video and the investigation is ongoing.