MIRAMAR, Fla. – Authorities have captured the gunman in a February road rage shooting in Miramar, according to police.
Kwame James, 20, of Miami Gardens, is facing two felony charges following his arrest on Thursday.
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An arrest warrant states that on the morning of Feb. 1, James, driving a Chevrolet Malibu, fired into a minivan while driving along South State Road 7, roughly between Pembroke Road and Miramar Parkway.
Police said after the shooting, the victim, driving with his girlfriend, went to the McDonald’s at 6204 Miramar Parkway and called 911 to report that he had been shot in the back.
The warrant states that both the victim and his girlfriend were uncooperative, but officers did find a bullet hole in the side of the minivan.
Medics took the victim to Memorial Regional Hospital to be treated for his gunshot wound, police said.
Police said they did tell officers that the incident happened after they left the Home Depot at 1951 S. State Road 7 in West Park and that one of them provided a description of the suspect and his vehicle.
It turned out, according to the warrant, that James works at that Home Depot; as police were reviewing surveillance footage, a loss prevention employee “immediately recognized” James, who was seen walking to his Chevrolet Malibu and leaving the lot.
Police canvassed businesses along State Road 7 for surveillance video, they said.
A patchwork of clips showed portions of the incident; they said a clip from the Quick Lube at 2750 S. State Road 7 showed the shooting.
“Video shows the vehicle being operated by (James) had lowered its window just prior to (the) discharging of the firearm,” detectives wrote in the warrant.
Authorities said detectives called James on Feb. 1 and he admitted to driving the Malibu, alone, as he left work and being in a road rage incident with the minivan.
According to the warrant, James claimed that the minivan driver “attempted to ram his vehicle” and that he was “in fear for his life,” but claimed he did not own a gun and didn’t shoot at anyone.
Police said James told detectives that the incident that sparked the road rage occurred when both vehicles had made a U-turn on State Road 7 to head south.
The warrant states that James told detectives that he had honked at the van after it had moved into his lane.
Authorities said that while the “belligerent,” “argumentative” and “unhinged” victim was not able to pick James out of a photo lineup, he was “still adamant” that the shooter was a Black male driving a Malibu.
Police said based on the “totality of the circumstances,” they had enough evidence to arrest James on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and shooting at or into an occupied vehicle.
James was being held in the Broward Main Jail on a $100,000 bond as of Friday morning, online records show.