Two fathers who got in what police say was a road-rage fight in Florida last fall exchanged gunfire and ended up shooting each other’s daughters.
Now, one of them is facing attempted murder charges while the other won’t have to spend another day in court over the skirmish.
William Hale, 36, of Douglas, Georgia, and Frank Allison, 44, of Callahan, Florida, were both driving home with their families on Oct. 8 after spending time in Jacksonville in northeastern Florida.
Both men have different stories about how the confrontation started but both agree that it was fueled by road rage, that they were brake-checking each other, driving too fast and that Allison’s wife flipped off the Hales, according to police records obtained by USA TODAY.
At some point, Allison, his family members and an independent witness told police that Hale became the aggressor, trying to run Allison off the road, chasing him down and throwing a water bottle into his driver’s side window.
That’s when Allison grabbed his gun and fired, hitting Hale’s 5-year-old daughter in the lower leg. Allison later told police he was aiming at the lower rear truck bed.
“After he shot, my daughter is screaming,” Hale told police. “It was an instant reaction.”
So Hale grabbed his own gun from his center console and emptied the Glock 43, firing seven to eight rounds at Williams’ car, Hale told police.
One of the bullets hit Williams’ 14-year-old daughter in the back.
“It hurts!” Williams’ daughter yelled on bodycam footage of the incident.
“I don’t want to die,” Hale’s 5-year-old can be heard saying on a 911 call, according to WJXT-TV.
Both girls were treated for their injuries later at local hospitals and survived.
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Article URL : https://www.yahoo.com/news/2-dads-exchanged-gunfire-florida-090510812.html