PLANT CITY, Fla. (WFLA) – A man who had just been released from prison after serving time for a road rage killing was shot and killed during an encounter in Plant City Wednesday morning, authorities say.
Wednesday’s road rage incident happened at 7 a.m. near the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and Branch Forbes Road.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, one driver stopped his car in front of the other, got out of his pickup truck and approached the motorist behind him. That’s when an argument escalated between the two.
Investigators say the car’s driver, 42-year-old Robert Padgett, warned Gary Lynn Durham, who was driving a pickup truck, before he pulled out a gun and shot him.
When paramedics arrived, they found Padgett giving CPR to Durham, who later died.
According to the sheriff’s office, Durham had recently been released from prison for killing a man during a road rage incident. He spent 11 years behind bars.
A sheriff’s office spokesperson said Padgett will not be arrested and that he is cooperating with the investigation.
“He was trying to do the right thing and make sure the individual would survive,” HCSO Col. Donna Lusczynski said. Padgett was released by deputies pending a State’s Attorney’s Office review of the case.
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