CLERMONT, Fla. – The man accused of shooting up a car on Florida's Turnpike, leaving it riddled with bullets, spoke to News 6 in a jailhouse interview.
Kwanza Donald, 33, said he was defending himself, after dodging bullets for several days as he traveled from Texas to Florida.
The Orlando native said he was working in Texas when he got a call that someone had killed his mom, who lives in Orlando. He said unknown people he believes are associated with gangs then started shooting at him.
However, he said he is not in a gang, and that his mother's supposed death was unrelated.
While Donald insists friends of his told him his mother was shot and killed, on Monday News 6 went to his home near Orlando, where Fay Donald told us she is the suspected shooter's mother. She said her son has a history of mental illness and was previously detained under the Baker Act. She said she did not know where he got the gun.
“The one's that was after me, I don't know them. But what I'm trying to say is I seen a lot of cars after me, behind me, on the side of me, in front of me, and then when I get to a certain part they'd shoot at me, then I'd lose them, have to turn around,” Donald said.
Donald says he lost it near State Road 50 on the turnpike and began to shoot at a red Chevy Impala next to him, an occupant of which he said first shot at him.
A man and his 17-year-old niece were in the Impala. Toll road surveillance video shows that it was unrelated to Donald's story. The Impala was hit by 12 bullets, but fortunately the man and teen got away.
The teenager was treated for bullet fragment injuries.
Donald seemed confused when questioned about the shooting. He said it took place in Georgia, and that he thought he was still in Texas.
News 6 reporter Sachelle Saunders reminded him that he was in Florida, but he maintained the shooting happened in Georgia. Donald then apologized to the victims.
“I feel great remorse for the family that happened to, and I'd do anything in the world to pay that family back, because I really didn't mean to shoot them bullets at that car,” Donald said.
Investigators said they could not find any proof of Donald's account that he was being shot at, they also say he admitted he had not eaten or slept in days.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers said they are looking into how Donald was able to obtain a firearm.
"For the number of rounds that went into the passenger side of that impala, it's amazing that neither victim was impaled by a bullet," FHP Sgt. Kim Montes said. "He did admit to shooting into the vehicle, three times, that's a felony in and of itself, shooting in an occupied vehicle."
Montes added the atate attorney's office is aware of Donald's claims about being shot at and will decide how to move forward with his case.
"We're very lucky that we don't have two fatalities out of this," Montes said.
One of the victims, Dexter Bernard, 37, said his 17-year-old niece was in the car with him at the time. They were traveling home to Miami after visiting his parents in Ocala for Thanksgiving, when bullet fragments started flying inside his car.
"It was the scariest moment of my life," Bernard said. He also wants to know how a man who was detained under the Baker Act was able to get a gun.
"We could have been killed," he said.
Troopers initially thought the shooting might have been road rage. On Monday, troopers said, it appears to have been random because Donald did not know the two victims.
Donald is currently being held in Lake County Jail on $120,000 bail on attempted murder and other charges.