Last October, two fathers got into a road rage fight in Florida and ended up shooting each other’s daughters, according to authorities.
One of them is now facing attempted murder charges, while the other will not have to appear in court again for the dispute.
On Oct. 8, William Hale, 36, of Douglas, Georgia, and Frank Allison, 44, of Callahan, Florida, were both heading home with their families after visiting Jacksonville in northeastern Florida.
According to police documents acquired by USA TODAY, both men have different tales about how the encounter started, but they both agree that it was motivated by road rage, that they were brake-checking each other, driving too fast, and that Allison’s wife flipped off the Hales.
Allison, his family members, and an independent witness informed police that Hale became the aggressor at some point, trying to run Allison off the road, pursuing him, and throwing a water bottle through his driver’s side window.
Allison then grabbed his gun and shot, hitting Hale’s 5-year-old daughter in the lower leg. Allison then admitted to authorities that he was aiming for the lower back truck bed.
“After he shot, my daughter is screaming,” Hale told police. “It was an instant reaction.”
According to Hale, he grabbed his own a gun from his center console and emptied the Glock 43, shooting seven to eight bullets into Williams’ car.
Williams’ 14-year-old daughter was injured in the back by one of the bullets.
“It hurts!” Williams’ daughter yelled on body camera 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 eventually treated for their injuries at nearby hospitals and survived.
Who gets charged?
Police detained men on attempted murder charges during the melee, claiming they “intentionally committed an act” that may have killed the girls.
“The act was imminently dangerous and demonstrated a depraved mind without regard for human life,” police wrote.
That was back in October. Hale is now the only one facing accusations.
On March 30, he was charged by the Nassau County State’s Attorney’s Office with three charges of second-degree attempted murder, three counts of aggravated assault, and one count of intentionally starting a deadly missile.
Hale is accused of tossing a water bottle into Allison’s car on the last charge.
Allison told police that though the water bottle did not hurt him or cause him to lose control of the vehicle, it “stunned me so bad I grabbed my pistol,” and that he fired at Hale’s car to “get out of the whole situation.”
According to the Nassau County State’s Attorney’s Office, Allison is protected from prosecution under Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law.
“Florida courts have held that the throwing of a water bottle or similar object could form the basis of a forcible felony,” according to a disposition statement written by Assistant State Attorney Christopher Roth Huband on March 31.
“The water bottle had liquid in it, and (Hale) threw it with malicious intent, clearly intending for it to enter the Allisons’ vehicle and possibly strike one of the occupants,” Huband wrote. “As such, the water bottle would qualify as a deadly missile.”
Huband goes on to say that Hale’s “aggressive driving pattern and the throwing of a water bottle placed the Allisons in fear of imminent death or great bodily harm and constitute the commission of forcible felonies.”
“William Hale’s actions – both independently and collectively – justify Frank Allison’s use of deadly force against William Hale,” Huband wrote.
It’s unclear whether Hale has obtained an attorney.
‘Two stupid grown men’
Back in October, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper told WJXT-TV in Jacksonville that there very nearly were “two dead kids because of two stupid grown men.”
“What is scarier than one crazy driver with a gun, than two crazy drivers with a gun?” Leeper said. “Thankfully, no one was killed in this incident, but it could have easily turned out that way because two people were acting stupid and let their tempers get the best of them.”
Drivers who find themselves in a similar scenario, he says, should have the courage to pull over.
“Someone who’s driving aggressively around you, let him go,” Leeper said. “Slow down. Go the other direction. Get the vehicle description if you can and call police.”
