ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Two men drove through east Orange County with guns blazing Wednesday and one of them had his children with him. He told Channel 9 he was firing his gun to protect his children.

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SLIDESHOW: Images From Scene Of Arrests, Shooting
RAW INTERVIEW: Man Describes Incident, Gunfight With Driver

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The father and former corrections officer was about to drop off his kids at a school near Goldenrod Road, not far from Chickasaw Elementary, when tempers flared and bullets started flying. (See map of where it happened)

The dad said the van in front of him was driving too slow, so he passed and gunfire was exchanged. Deputies said that's when dad dropped off the kids, found the van and, crouching in a yard, popped off a few more shots.

It was in his own east Orange County neighborhood that 40-year-old Louis Davis admitted to Channel 9 he opened fire on another driver as his frightened 6-year-old and 11-year-old children watched. Davis said he did it to protect them.

"I called 911, but if someone's firing at me, by God I'm going to protect myself and my family," Davis told Eyewitness News.

Davis claims a gun was not the first weapon 44-year-old Victor Vilchez used against him.

"I sped up and got in front of him and he rammed my white Honda, rammed right in the back of it. My kids were terrified. They were all crying," Davis said.

Vilchez wasn't willing to share his side of the story as deputies carted him off, but the sheriff's office said the final confrontation between the two men should have never happened.

Deputies said Davis, who Eyewitness News confirmed is a former corrections officer, dropped his kids off and came back looking for Vilchez.

"I saw a man running and shooting a gun. I wasn't going to stop there [in my car]," said eyewitness Brenda Thompson.

No one was shot, but Thompson got caught first too close to Davis and then Vilchez.

"He was going straight, then all of a sudden he t-boned me," Thompson said.

"You got bullets flying everywhere. This is ridiculous. I think it's a good thing they have both been arrested," said Deputy Carlos Padilla, Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Both men face weapons, attempted murder and aggravated child abuse charges. In addition to that, Vilchez faces another charge of battery with a vehicle.

Both of the men involved in the shooting claimed they had concealed weapons permits. If that is the case, the sheriff's office said it will likely petition to have them revoked.