Michael Drejka, 47, has a history of threatening drivers in various road rage incidents before fatally shooting Markels McGlockton after being shoved to the ground during a dispute over a handicapped-accessible spot. Drejka claimed self-defense in the shooting, citing Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law.
A similar incident occurred roughly three months prior in the same Circle A Food Store parking lot where Drejka fatally shot Mr McGlockton. In this incident, an African-American man, Richard Kelly was confronted by Drejka at the Circle A Food Store. Documents said, Drejka was upset because Mr Kelly parked in a handicapped-accessible spot. The exchange became very heated and at one point Drejka told him he was going to shoot him, according to the documents.
Drejka then returned to his vehicle and began rummaging through the center console but Kelly drove away. Kelly also says that Drejka threw racial slurs at him.
The article details 3 other incidents of Mr Drejka's road rage including a woman who drove too slow through a school zone, a teen who stopped at a yellow light and a "brake-checking" incident.
To read more:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/14/us/florida-stand-your-ground-previous-incidents/index.html
My Commentary:
Mr Drejka was clearly looking to kill someone but that doesn't make him a murderer.
What makes him a murderer is that in order for this to be self-defense, there would have to be an imminent threat. Yes, Mr McGlockton did shove him to the ground but it can be clearly seen on surveillance video of the incident that once the weapon was pulled, Mr McGlockton backed off and turned away before he was shot.
This is just another case of a George Zimmerman "Captain Crime Watch" type of personality being allowed to own a gun.
I'm all for responsible, legal carrying of firearms but this was in no way responsible or legal IMHO.
I hope Mr Drejka serves the rest of his life in prison. People need to be discouraged from this vigilante mentality.
If you're mad because you got shoved to the ground in a parking lot during an argument, call the cops and press charges. At the end of the day, everybody goes home. People shouldn't be allowed to kill one another because their ego has been bruised.