Captured On Video: Shots Fired After Davis Highway Wreck

September 26, 2018

Shots were fired at a busy intersection Tuesday afternoon following a traffic crash, and it was captured on video.

The incident happened on northbound Davis Highway at I-10.  The driver of a Toyota Tacoma rear-ended a Ford Escape driven by a 67-year old Ernest M. Merritt of Castleberry, AL.  The Tacoma driver, described by troopers as an older Hispanic male, started an unprovoked physical altercation with the driver he rear-ended, according toe the Florida Highway Patrol. A passerby stopped to assist the the driver of the Ford Escape in an attempt to subdue the Hispanic male.

The Hispanic male then pulled a gun and fired numerous rounds at the scene, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, before fleeing the scene and causing another minor traffic crash.

No one was struck by the gunfire and no other injuries were reported.

A video uploaded to the NorthEscambia.com Facebook page shows shows an older male and the Hispanic male in a physical altercation. The Hispanic male holds his hands behind his head as the white male repeatedly strikes him with a lug wrench. He continues to walk around the highway with his hands behind his head after the physical altercation ends.

The Hispanic male gets back in his pickup truck and accelerates into another vehicle. The truck’s tires spin and smoke. After exiting the truck, the Hispanic male walks around in the roadway, firing a handgun into the air.

The FHP is investigating the  traffic crashes, and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting.

Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call the ECSO at (850) 436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.

Comments

22 Responses to “Captured On Video: Shots Fired After Davis Highway Wreck”

  1. CW on September 27th, 2018 8:15 am

    “BTW why are there so many Alabama tags here in Florida?”

    Because for someone who lives in Flomaton or Brewton, Pensacola is a half hour closer than driving to Mobile. People still need to drive to the airport, or larger hospitals, or go to Home Depot, etc… Alabamians pump a lot of money into Pensacola’s economy.

    If you go over to Jax you’ll see a lot of Georgia tags as well.

  2. Moe DeLone on September 26th, 2018 11:54 pm

    @CW….”because we know Floridians aren’t capable of such craziness.” A large majority of “Floridians” are not from Florida. A survey from the DHSMV found many bad drivers in Florida “learned to drive” in other states..there are.not many states south of us.

    I think a lot of these new citizens came south trying to get to Brazil or other countries, and could not read their maps. They ran out of gas, ran out of bus fare, or their cars broke down and they became instant “Floridians.”

    But, they have always been available to tell us how they did it “up there.”

    Have you ever watched some of the live police shows, mostly from south Florida.?
    Those accents are not, for the most parts, native Florida accents or attitudes.

    Don’t blame real Floridians for this craziness….no sarcasm intended.

  3. Anonymous on September 26th, 2018 9:57 pm

    Wow! Some of these comments! SMH! That was my uncle that was hit by that man and yes by the looks of these videos he looks like he’s just hitting this innocent man that’s seems to be surrendering but when you read the facts that’s not at all what really happened! Thankful there were witnesses so people can get the real story!

  4. So true and wonder why on September 26th, 2018 6:47 pm

    I agree JJ. BTW why are there so many Alabama tags here in Florida.

  5. dewey on September 26th, 2018 6:29 pm

    a lot if idiots commenting on here, just saying; read the article if you can, if you can’t then have someone read it to you.

  6. Nicole Butler on September 26th, 2018 5:47 pm

    Has the psychotic Hispanic male not been arrested yet?

  7. rc on September 26th, 2018 5:33 pm

    The young man should consider himself fortunate….I know a lot of senior men and they carry a gun. The older gentleman could have very well shot this guy. They all tell me they are just too old and worn out to fight but are unwilling to just be beaten up at someone’s will. I see their point.

  8. CW on September 26th, 2018 4:42 pm

    “it looks like that truck has an “ALABAMA” tag on it. That says it all right there.‘

    Yeah sure, because we all know Floridians aren’t capable of such craziness. >sarc<

  9. Old School on September 26th, 2018 1:59 pm

    Whenever you rearend another vehicle, you are usually the one at fault. Attacking the driver of the vehicle you just crashed into doesn’t make you less guilty. Ask any Trooper. Besides, its never a good idea to attack a senior citizen.

  10. JJ on September 26th, 2018 1:09 pm

    It’s a little blurry, but it looks like that truck has an “ALABAMA” tag on it. That says it all right there.

  11. mike on September 26th, 2018 12:26 pm

    okay thanks, did not see that part

  12. Deborah G on September 26th, 2018 8:08 am

    In response to mike: The Hispanic man was NOT holding his hands up in surrender. He was holding his head where he just got hit. He had already hit the 67 year man numerous times. A passerby stopped to help when he saw the Hispanic man jumping on and hitting the older man. The passerby then grabbed the Hispanic man and tried to subdue him as he was acting out of control. Like I said before, the video didnt capture the first half of incident. This guy doesn’t need a license or a vehicle!! People watch out on the roads!!

  13. anonymous on September 26th, 2018 7:27 am

    I didn’t see this part but the truck took off in the wrong direction into oncoming traffic smh

  14. Josh on September 26th, 2018 6:39 am

    Guy with the tire iron hit the suspect to stop the suspect from attacking the victim driver. Suspect punched a guy in the face several times before the tire iron got involved.

  15. mike on September 26th, 2018 5:53 am

    what provoked the altercation? did the Hispanic guy get away?

    look, when someone is raising their hands in surrender, you don’t keep hitting them. the Hispanic guy was also wrong to fire a gun. all in all, a great display of maturity by both men, not. :(

  16. Deborah G on September 26th, 2018 5:50 am

    The video is missing the first half of incident. Traffic was stopped and Hispanic male didn’t stop and rammed the back of Ford Escape. After he hit the Ford Escape the Hispanic male got out of his truck and walked up and struck the 67 year old male in the face with his fist, knocking his glasses from his face. He continued to try to strike the 67 year old. Then 67 year old grabbed a tool from the back of the guys truck and hit Hispanic male. From the look on the Hispanic males face he was high on something. The Hispanic male then went to get a gun from his truck and fired shots. As video shows when Hispanic male got back in his vehicle he proceeded to ram the Ford Escape again. Then spun around and fled the scene. Glad no one was seriously hurt!! Hope they caught this guy!!

  17. Alfonzo Rodriguez Jaime Estrada Gomez on September 26th, 2018 2:14 am

    So why is the white guy with the tire iron, hitting the unarmed Hispanic guy in the head with said tire iron? Even though said Hispanic guy was hit with the tire iron, he still wasn’t justified in discharging his firearm in the air. I think the video clip stopped and suddenly started and we are missing pieces in the middle.

  18. LaxMum on September 26th, 2018 12:57 am

    First off hoping the elder man in the Ford Escape is ok. @money4nothing and @grand locust that’s not right. Lol. @tooma you obviously need to polish up on Florida Law and your rights. You dont have to have a CCW to carry in your vehicle.

  19. Al Buchanan on September 26th, 2018 12:46 am

    Money4nothing ur comment made me bust out laughing hahahaha.

  20. Money4nothing on September 25th, 2018 10:32 pm

    Hopefully the driver of the Escape had Farmer’s Insurance. “We know a thing or 2 because we’ve seen a thing or 2″. Gringo with a pea shooter incident, 2018. We are Farmer’s, ba bada ba ba ba.

  21. Grand Locust on September 25th, 2018 9:06 pm

    I am pretty sure that it was MAYHAM from the Allstate commercial wearing a sombrero, sunglasses, and carrying a guitar case. When somebody bumps you from behind and gets out of the car with a guitar case……we all know what comes next…..gunfire and the radio playing the streets of Laredo as MAYHAM drives away….but if you see Flo and Jamie getting out of the car…..run.

  22. tooma on September 25th, 2018 8:45 pm

    It is bad enough that we are all having to deal with congested roads, texting drivers, and snails pace road repairs now add to it gun carrying morons that shouldn’t have a gun in the first place. Its a miracle the good Samaritan didn’t get shot. The idiot then flees the scene. Find him, jail him, revoke the CCW permit (if he was legally carrying in the first place) revoke drivers license – impound the vehicle and crush it because – YOU CAN’T FIX STUPID!