A Florida man was arrested after shooting a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputy in a bizarre case of road rage, the agency said in a news release Wednesday night.
According to Tampa Bay 10 News, the incident took place just after 6 p.m. on Balm Riverview Road and CR-672.
Sheriff Chad Chronister said during a news conference that Deputy Daniel Henry, 33, was headed home from a sheriff’s office day of training when he got behind a green Saturn driving “well-below” the speed limit when the driver, identified as 49-year-old Tracy Swint, got enraged that a police car was behind him.
“The driver of that vehicle immediately starts getting aggressive and engaging in what we call a road rage incident,” Chronister said, according to the station.
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Swint proceeded to brake check Henry driving behind him in a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office SUV, Chronister said. In an effort to avoid Swint, the deputy attempted to drive around the car.
That’s when the sheriff said Swint put his window down and fired a gunshot at the deputy. The bullet hit just behind the passenger side door. Had the bullet hit a little higher and gone through the window, Chronister said Wednesday night’s news conference could’ve taken a devastating turn.
The Hillsborough deputy immediately pulled over to assess what happened, he said. Realizing he wasn’t hit by the bullet, Henry immediately put out a call to other deputies on the radio, giving the tag, driver’s description and the model.
Minutes later, another Hillsborough deputy was able to spot the green car and called for backup. Deputies performed a felony traffic stop and the driver pulled over to a home and complied with deputies’ orders.
Upon his arrest, Swint told deputies he opned fire because was stressed out and let his “emotions get the best of him.”
