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Troopers: 'Elvis' shoots at cows with AR-15 in Osceola County

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol said they arrested Elvis Antonio Artola, 33, for shooting at cows with an AR-15 on the Florida Turnpike.

Trooper Konner Achors said he was on routine patrol Sunday when he received a call that someone in a blue Hyundai Sonata was shooting a rifle at cows along Osceola Parkway in Kissimmee.

Achors found the vehicle matching that description and pulled over the vehicle in Orange County. Artola was in the passenger seat and when questioned if he was firing off the rifle, he said no, troopers said.

Artola admitted to having a weapon in the vehicle, but when Achors asked him to place his hands behind his back, he refused, troopers said. Trooper Peter Hooker, along with Achors, said they had to use a “joint manipulation” to get Artola to put his hands behind his back.

The driver of the vehicle told troopers he stopped along the side of the Turnpike so Artola could use the restroom. He said Artola stepped out of the vehicle with a rifle in his hand and fired into the woods several times.

The driver told troopers Artola got back inside the vehicle, they made a U-Turn and Artola fired the gun several more times out the car window. The driver told troopers he wasn’t sure if Artola was trying to hit the cows or if he was just “shooting to shoot.”

The driver said Artola fired several other times between the 223 mile marker and the 249 mile marker, troopers said.

Troopers said they found a black Bushmaster rifle, fully loaded, in the trunk of the vehicle.

Artola was arrested and is being held in the Orange County Jail.