FHP needs witnesses to help in 6 unsolved interstate shootings

Troopers ask interstate shooting witnesses to come forward

Jordan Bowen reports

TAMPA, Fla. - Cases of unsolved shootings on Florida interstates are piling up for highway patrol investigators. There have been six shootings in the last 12 months, leaving three people dead, and no arrests have been made.

Tracking down a gunman is nothing new to law enforcement, but when they open fire behind the wheel finding them is much more difficult.

Most of the cases have little evidence for troopers to go on. Sometimes crime scenes can stretch miles, making it very difficult to track down the shooter.

The Florida Highway Patrol says it comes down to getting help from witnesses to solve these cases.

Trucker says interstate shootings are like nothing he's ever seen

After decades on the road, a truck driver tells FOX 13 News he's never seen anything like the recent string of random shootings on Interstate 4 and Interstate 75 in Florida.

"If a round from a gun is expended onto the highway, of course, you are looking at thousands of miles, cars passing over it, destroying that evidence," Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Gaskins said.

Last July, two best friends driving home from the Hard Rock Casino were shot and killed after someone in a Jeep pulled up next to them on I-75 and opened fire.

Troopers still looking for third person after shooting

FHP Sgt. Steve Gaskins says two people were killed after a white Jeep Cherokee was seen shooting at a white 2020 Nissan sedan.

Earlier this month, a 22-year-old man died after crashing his car into a concrete median on I-275. Police found him with a single gunshot, but say his truck had multiple bullet holes.

Tampa police investigate man found shot in car along I-275

Officers responded to a report of a traffic crash on I-275 but found a car with multiple bullet holes and the driver with a gunshot wound. The driver later passed away.

Ten days ago, a man was injured when someone shot into his car while driving on I-275 near Fletcher and Fowler Avenue.

This week, a couple on their motorcycle were both shot while driving across the Howard Frankland Bridge but survived.

Search for suspect in shooting on Howard Frankland Bridge

Jennifer Holton reports

FOX 13 asked FHP if any of the cases are possibly related.

"The ones we have investigated here locally seem to be isolated incidents. We’re not aware of any serial type of nature to these cases," Gaskins said.

A total of six shootings in 12 months have all happened on Bay Area interstates. Some argue the FDOT cameras could help collect critical evidence.

"Any evidence we get to include video would be great. The cameras we have up and down the highway system almost 3,000 throughout the state. They do not record."

FOX 13 reached out to FDOT about the cameras.

"Traffic monitoring equipment does not capture the state’s entire transportation system," an FDOT spokesperson wrote in an email sent to FOX 13 Wednesday night. "Traffic monitoring cameras are generally very high in the air and do not have a stationary 360-degree view, meaning they are pointed in one direction at a time."

It's why Sgt. Gaskins says is so important for eyewitnesses to speak up and come forward.

"Contact CrimeStoppers and give us that information so we can put two and two together and get these people off the highway," Gaskins said.

In the last two years, Sgt. Gaskins says, there's been about a dozen shootings FHP has investigated. One of these cases was solved in February when three people were arrested.

They are hopeful more people will come forward so they can solve more of these cases.