ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A Tampa man was randomly shot in the arm Saturday evening while driving through the Fairview Shores neighborhood, the Orlando Police Department said.
Police said they were called shortly after 8:30 p.m. to Edgewater Drive and West Fairbanks Avenue after someone shot the SUV several times, piercing a window.
Nicole Rawlins, the victim's wife, told Channel 9 she, her husband and their three children -- ages 2, 5 and 11 -- were driving home to Tampa after celebrating a birthday with relatives in the Forest City neighborhood when their GPS system led them astray.
She said she and her husband were searching for directions when he was shot.
"We just heard the sound and just weren't understanding what was happening," Rawlins said. "I thought that balloons popped or something. And when I looked up, I saw the glass."
She said she is grateful her husband wasn't more seriously injured.
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"It could have went bad fast," Rawlins said. "Just a split moment and it could have been completely different than just a bullet through an arm."
The Orange County Sheriff's Office is investigating the shooting.
No other details were given.
#BREAKING NEWS: @OrangeCoSheriff is trying to figure out who randomly shot at this SUV. Three kids were in the back when the bullet sailed through the driver’s window. Their dad was hit in the arm. The family was visiting from Tampa to celebrate a bday. MORE DETAILS AT 11. @WFTV pic.twitter.com/gJfixLuASJ
— Megan Cruz (@MeganWFTV) October 14, 2018
Cox Media Group
