Arrest made in accidental shooting that injured 9-year-old on I-95, deputies say

ROCKLEDGE, Fla. — An arrest has been made in a shooting that injured a child who was in a vehicle on Interstate 95 near Rockledge Sunday, according to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

The car was traveling south on I-95 near State Road 520 around 3 p.m. when the driver noticed the backseat passenger window had shattered, deputies said.

The car was being driven by a relative who was taking a group of kids to a birthday party when a stray bullet pierced a car window, grazing a 9-year-old boy, deputies said.

Crystal, a Port Saint John woman who asked Channel 9 to not disclose her last name, said she and her family are still reeling from an accidental shooting on her son's birthday that sent his cousin to the hospital.

"We heard a pop, and we thought the tire blew out. The kids started screaming that my nephew had been shot, and the window started shattering," she said. "I'm screaming, 'He's been shot. He's been shot. Dial 911.'"

Crystal said she applied pressure to her nephew's wound and called 911.

The driver exited onto Fiske Boulevard, deputies said.

The child was flown to Orlando's Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. He has since been released from the hospital.

Deputies said while responding to the scene, they saw Justin Trayshod Weaver, 21, with a rifle in his hand on Tucker Lane in Cocoa.

The investigation revealed he had been shooting the rifle on Tucker Lane when one of the projectiles struck the vehicle the child was in, deputies said. The projectiles also caused superficial injuries to two other passengers from the shattered glass, according to deputies.

Deputies determined the shooting was accidental and Weaver did not intentionally aim at the vehicle, investigators said.

"Did he intentionally shoot my nephew?" Crystal said. "No, that was an accident. But it wasn't accidental in where you were shooting. You were shooting toward a major highway."

She said her nephew doesn't want to drive on a highway anymore.

"Be careful. Guns aren't toys," Crystal said. "Just take a second and think and make a more prudent decision. This was just carelessness."

Weaver was arrested Sunday and faces charges of culpable negligence inflicting harm, five counts of culpable negligence exposure to harm discharging a firearm in public and possession of marijuana.

Cox Media Group