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Police: Man arrested in Altamonte Springs road-rage shooting

A 28-year-old man who shot a motorist in a road-rage incident last week was arrested Wednesday, the Altamonte Springs Police Department said.

Rukshan Goonewardena shot Sherif Basta, 49, in the arm shortly before 1 p.m. while they were stopped at a red light at State Road 436 and South Westmonte Drive, Altamonte Springs police Officer Evelyn Estevez said.

Investigators said Basta was taken to a hospital to be treated for injuries that weren’t life-threatening.

"Witnesses explained the two vehicles almost collided while changing lanes, causing the drivers to exchange words just prior to when the shooting occurred," Estevez said.

Detectives were able to obtain surveillance footage of Goonewardena's Chevrolet SS sedan, police said.

"Basta was able to positively identify Goonewardena as the same subject who pulled up next to him and shot into his vehicle, hitting him in the arm," Estevez said. "A shell casing was located inside the black Chevrolet SS (that is) believed to be the casing from the single shot fired during the incident."

The key to the case was the vehicle—investigators said only 13 people within a 10-mile radius of the shooting scene were registered with the same type of Chevy.

“He does have a criminal history and that was one of the red flags the detectives saw when looking into all of the registered owners,” said Estevez.

Goonewardena was booked into the John E. Polk Correctional Facility on an attempted murder charge.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Altamonte Springs police at 407-339-2441 or Crimeline at 407-423-8477.