Man Who Shot at George Zimmerman Is Arrested

Matthew Apperson charged with firing a missile into an occupied conveyance
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 15, 2015 8:28 PM CDT
Man Who Shot at George Zimmerman Is Arrested
Matthew Apperson, who authorities say was involved in a shooting incident involving George Zimmerman.   (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel via AP)

A man who shot at George Zimmerman during a confrontation earlier this week along a busy central Florida road has been arrested. Matthew Apperson turned himself in to Lake Mary police this evening. A rep for the police department says that "after conducting numerous interviews throughout the week, detectives determined that Mr. Apperson did intentionally fire his weapon into the vehicle occupied by George Zimmerman without provocation." The Orlando Sentinel reports by way of a police report that Apperson claimed he fired a single shot at Zimmerman's car after Zimmerman first pointed a gun at him and said, "I'm going to kill you."

Zimmerman told a much different story: As he made a U-turn, Apperson approached him in his vehicle, yelling and threatening his life; Zimmerman says he tried to drive away after calling Apperson a "clown," but Apperson shot at him. Zimmerman suffered minor injuries from flying glass and debris. Zimmerman also said he didn't recognize Apperson, though the two had two encounters in September. Police recovered two legal guns from Apperson and one from Zimmerman. One interesting tidbit from Zimmerman's attorney: Don West says his client no longer lives in the state; he was back in Lake Mary for Mother's Day. Apperson was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and firing a missile into an occupied conveyance. Read more on Zimmerman and Apperson's prior relationship. (More George Zimmerman stories.)

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