Miami-Dade man shot at 2 people during an I-95 road rage incident in Broward, troopers say
Police on Monday arrested a 31-year-old man who they say shot into a moving vehicle with two people inside during a road rage incident the night before on Interstate 95 near Fort Lauderdale.
Lazaro Diaz Gongora, a Miami-Dade County resident, faces two counts of attempted felony murder and a charge of shooting a vehicle, Broward County jail records show. He remained at Broward’s Main Jail as of Monday evening.
Around 10:15 p.m. Sunday, Diaz Gongora’s girlfriend, Brittany Cowart Sickles, was driving a white Kia Optima between Sunrise and Oakland Park boulevards on northbound I-95 when she swerved into the lane of another vehicle, nearly causing a crash, according to his Florida Highway Patrol arrest report.
The victims told investigators they avoided the collision but noted the Optima subsequently pulled in front of them before slowing down. At that point, the victims said, Diaz Gongora leaned outside the passenger window and began shooting.
“The suspect shot approximately four times at the victims and after each round he would pause and take aim to shoot and kill the driver,” the report says.
After the shooting, troopers said the victims slowed down and called 911. Then they drove home and waited for police.
Responding troopers noted they observed a bullet hole on the hood of the victims’ vehicle. During the investigation, they also linked the same car to a similar crime in Miami Beach and that the description of the suspect matched the one of the I-95 shooter.
Hours later, investigators say, Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies spotted the Optima at 60 SW 17th St., a two-story apartment building in the area of Pompano Beach. After obtaining a search warrant early Monday morning, the same car was seen parking at a 7-Eleven gas station pump in the area of 1500 S. Cypress Road and its occupants went inside the convenience store. When Diaz Gongora and his girlfriend exited the store around 10 a.m., BSO deputies took them into custody.
READ MORE: Another Miami area I-95 shooting hit a driver once and his Mercedes 15 times, FHP says
According to troopers, Sickles told investigators they had been drinking prior to the incident and that she didn’t call the police because she was afraid of what her boyfriend would do to her. Records show she hasn’t been charged with a crime.
Meanwhile, Diaz Gongora confessed to shooting at the victims but said he didn’t know that his gun had a bullet in the chamber. Troopers didn’t buy his story, arresting him for allegedly trying to kill two people.
