Authorities are still searching for a trucker that they say shot and killed another trucker Saturday while driving east bound on I-10 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Witnesses told the Florida Highway Patrol that around 1:50 p.m. a black, bearded man driving a dull orange, early-to-mid 2000 Freightliner with a dirty, white trailer pulled up alongside another semi-tractor trailer and bumped into it.
A few moments later, one of the tractor-trailers involved in the altercation veered off the road and crashed in the woods. Initially, witnesses calling 911 described what they thought appeared to be an accident. However, authorities responding to the crash site about a half-mile west of Chaffee Road (Exit 351) on the west side of Jacksonville said New Jersey resident George Guerrero, 44, had been shot. He was found dead at the wheel. His truck cab had been shot several times, according to Sgt. Jay Farhat of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Besides FHP, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office are also investigating the murder. Evidence has been collected from the highway, including broken glass, news4jax.com reported.
Investigators plan on reviewing the contents of the black box in Guerrero’s truck to learn how fast he had been traveling along with other details.
Weigh stations and law enforcement along I-10 and Interstate 95 have been told to be on the look-out for the shooter’s truck.
Farhat said road-rage incidents usually don’t occur among tractor-trailer drivers. He advised that with increased summer traffic coming, drivers need to exercise more patience.
‘It’s not worth it. Somebody cutting someone else off, if that’s even what happened to cause this, we don’t know. But it’s not worth somebody losing their life,” Farhat said. “Take a breath and just keep going or call FHP or JSO.”
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at 904-630-0500 or by email at [email protected]. Tipsters wishing to remain anonymous are asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS. Callers to Crime Stoppers may receive an award of up to $3,000.