Several truck drivers have recently been involved in highway incidents, including a double shooting involving multiple truckers, a trucker who was shot at while driving, and two drivers arrested for attempting to smuggle illegal immigrants across the border.
On Thursday, Dec. 19, two people were shot – one fatally – at a Pilot truck stop in Baldwin, Florida, near I-10. A local news report from News4Jax says the shooter was later shot by police after driving a tractor-trailer a short distance along the interstate.
Police were called to the Pilot on U.S. 301 after the shooting, where they found the two victims. Officers soon found the shooter’s rig on the side of the highway and began to approach the truck, the report states. As officers approached the truck, gunfire came from the cab and missed the officers but hit a patrol car. The officers fired back, injuring the driver, who was transported to a hospital with critical injuries.
Video of shootout on I-10 in Baldwin where sources say 3 people were shot, including suspect. At least 1 person is dead. Warning: dramatic viewer video. We have live coverage on ground and in air on @wjxt4 right now. pic.twitter.com/2cYeOjnjTO
— Vic Micolucci WJXT (@WJXTvic) December 19, 2019
Police near Lexington, Kentucky, continue looking for the driver of a pickup truck said to have shot at a tractor-trailer driver on Interstate 75 on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
A Lexington TV station reports the shooting began when a northbound tractor-trailer cut off the pickup near mile marker 141. The driver of the pickup, which was towing a small, enclosed trailer, then shot at the truck, hitting the driver’s side of the cab. The bullet was reportedly found in the cab, but the trucker was not wounded.
After the shooting, the pickup driver reportedly used an emergency turnaround to head south on I-75. Police have video of the pickup but are said to be unable to identify the license plates on it or the trailer.
Anyone with information should contact the Scott County Sheriff’s Office at (502) 863-7855.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol arrested a trucker who was caught attempting to smuggle 70 illegal immigrants into the U.S. (CBP photo)U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has recently announced two human smuggling attempts by truck drivers that were thwarted at the border.
On Dec. 16, border agents stopped a tractor-trailer in Laredo, Texas, and discovered 70 immigrants inside the trailer. All were found to be illegally present in the United States from El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico, CBP reports.
The driver, a U.S. citizen, and the immigrants were placed under arrest, pending investigation. The tractor and trailer were seized by CBP.
On Nov. 19, agents in Eagle Pass, Texas, arrested a truck driver who attempted to smuggle five illegal immigrants into the U.S. CBP reports that agents found the five individuals in the sleeper of a 2000 Kenworth tractor-trailer. The immigrants were reportedly from Honduras, Guatemala and Ecuador. The driver faces charges for alien smuggling, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, CBP says.
