Story highlights
George Zimmerman was injured from broken glass after a bullet flew through his truck
The other man involved said Zimmerman had waved a gun, and he acted in self-defense
There’s no love lost between George Zimmerman and Matthew Apperson – certainly not after a bullet flew through Zimmerman’s truck Monday afternoon and barely missed his head.
Zimmerman and Apperson have had tense encounters before. In September, Apperson accused the former neighborhood watch volunteer of threatening him in what Zimmerman’s lawyer described as a “quasi-road rage incident.”
Two days later, police stopped Zimmerman after Apperson called 911 to say he thought he saw Zimmerman near his office.
No charges were filed in either of those cases. But on Monday, Apperson allegedly fired a shot into Zimmerman’s truck in Lake Mary, Florida. It’s just the latest case involving Zimmerman, the man who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012.
Exactly what happened Monday depends on which side you ask.
Zimmerman’s side: He was the victim of road rage
Zimmerman’s attorney Don West said a man driving behind his client was flashing his lights and honking his horn at him.
“The man pulled up next to George yelling obscenities at him,” West told CNN.
Zimmerman recognized Apperson as someone he had a problem with several months ago, the attorney said.
“He rolled his window up and he decided to get away, not to provoke it whatsoever,” West said. “And the fellow followed him – followed him around the U-turn and then pulled up to him and shot at him.”
The bullet went through Zimmerman’s side window and almost hit him in the head, West said. Zimmerman was hit by glass from the window, but not the bullet. He was taken to a hospital for minor injuries and then released, police said.
An investigation into the incident continued Tuesday afternoon, and no determination had yet been made as to whether anyone will be charged in the case, Lake Mary police said.
West said he’s not sure what led up to the confrontation, but speculated that Trayvon Martin’s death might have something to do with Monday’s shooting and the incident in September.
“I’m wondering if there is some kind of spillover from the Trayvon Martin incident,” he said. “Whether he saw George Zimmerman and decided to be aggressive with him initially back last fall and maybe this is a spillover to this, I don’t know.”
Apperson’s side: Zimmerman waved a gun
Apperson’s lawyer gave a very different version of Monday’s events: that Zimmerman was the instigator.
Attorney Mark NeJame said his client acted in self-defense.
“What happened today, he was legally justified to do,” NeJame said Monday.
An employee at a nearby business, Kenneth Cornell, said he was getting out of his car after lunch when a man drove up and started yelling.
“He was shaken. He seemed panicked,” Cornell told “CNN Tonight.”
The man, who identified himself as Apperson, shouted to Cornell: “I shot George Zimmerman, call 911! I don’t have a phone.”
Apperson said he shot Zimmerman after Zimmerman waved a gun, Cornell said. But Zimmerman’s lawyer has denied that his client waved a gun.
He said the fact that Apperson asked someone to call 911 immediately further indicates his client was not guilty of wrongdoing.
Lake Mary police said the 911 call came at about the same time Zimmerman flagged down an officer.
911 caller: ‘He said he had to’ shoot
Lake Mary police released audio of part of the 911 call on Tuesday.
In the call, a man tells the dispatcher there was a person “outside on the street … just standing out there” who had been involved in a shooting.