ORLANDO, Fla. — George Zimmerman had moved out of Florida recently, hoping for a fresh start.
In the two years since his acquittal in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, the one-time neighborhood watch volunteer has had several run-ins with the law.
Once again, he is involved in a police investigation, only this time authorities say he was shot at in his pickup truck. What exactly transpired with the shooter – a man he crossed paths with last fall – is in dispute.
Zimmerman and Matthew Apperson were both driving Monday on a busy road in the Orlando suburb of Lake Mary when some sort of confrontation occurred. The passenger window of Zimmerman’s pickup had a bullet hole in it and Zimmerman suffered minor injuries from flying glass and debris.
Zimmerman had returned to the area for Mother’s Day and a doctor’s appointment, and was driving to his doctor’s office when the confrontation took place, said his attorney, Don West. Apperson works nearby, at a disability-benefits office.
Police recovered a handgun from Zimmerman and took two guns from Apperson’s car. Both men had their guns legally.
“He never waved it, displayed it or brandished it,” West said of Zimmerman. “He did not threaten Mr. Apperson in any way with a firearm.”
Apperson’s attorney, Mark NeJame, said the shooting was “a good, old-fashioned self-defense case” and that Apperson’s encounter with Zimmerman was pure “happenstance.” Apperson claimed Zimmerman brandished a gun and he feared for his life, NeJame said.
“He is not looking for trouble. He did not want trouble,” NeJame said. “He’s not following George Zimmerman around. He’s not wanting anything to do with George Zimmerman, as it relates to any of this.”
Police on Tuesday released a 911 call in which the caller says Apperson told him he was forced to fire at Zimmerman.
“A guy says he had to shoot a guy through the window and he wants the police to come,” the man said on the call. “He had to shoot at somebody … He said it was George Zimmerman.”
Documents show detectives are investigating the shooting as a possible aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill.
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