RIVERVIEW, Fla. — A 16-year-old girl was hospitalized after a road rage shooting Tuesday evening, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office reports. On Wednesday morning, the man accused of firing the shots was arrested.
The shooting happened around 5 p.m. Tuesday near South Falkenburg Road and Camden Field Parkway in Riverview.
Deputies said two drivers heading northbound got into a fight which led one of them, later identified as 37-year-old Rasool Hakeem, to shoot at the other car.
One of the bullets hit a 16-year-old girl who was sitting in the passenger seat of the car that was fired at. Deputies say the only other person in the vehicle at the time was the girl's 18-year-old brother, who was the driver. The two were on their way to pick up their younger sister from school.
"So maybe if this transpired minutes later, maybe there would be more victims," Chief Deputy Joseph Maurer said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
According to deputies, Hakeem admitted to shooting his gun twice during the altercation.
"Are you saving 30 seconds because you want to go a little bit faster? Did someone inadvertently cut you off? That happens. Violence is not the answer," Maurer added.
The teen was transported to Tampa General Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Maurer confirmed that the bullet grazed the 16-year-old's chin. She also suffered a wound to her shoulder and arm.
"But ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake about it. We're talking about inches. It was her chin," Maurer said. "If it was a couple of inches higher, it's probably, maybe a homicide."
Neither driver was hurt.
Maurer explained that Hakeem pulled over to the side of the road sometime after the incident and called 911.
The sheriff's office says Hakeem told deputies the other vehicle rammed his, but that claim is "untrue."
Sheriff Chad Chronister said shooting into another car was "simply reckless and unacceptable." He also claimed Hakeem had "no regard for human life" and that the situation was "completely avoidable."
"There is simply no excuse to endanger a life because of a disagreement with another driver," Chronister said in a statement. "There is absolutely no reason for an innocent 16-year-old to be in the hospital because of a road rage incident."
Hakeem is charged with two counts of second-degree attempted murder with a firearm causing great bodily harm and one count of shooting at or into a vehicle. HCSO says he was previously arrested in 2014 for domestic violence battery.
While Maurer could not confirm if the 16-year-old was still in the hospital, he said she's hoping to return to school by Thursday.
"Traffic and driving is a privilege," Maurer said. "Whatever incident or issues happen on the road, particularly violence, there is no precedent for that and it will not be tolerated here in Hillsborough County."