BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- A 21-year-old man was arrested Sunday after a stray bullet grazed a child on Interstate 95 who was on his way to a birthday party.
- Man accused of firing stray bullet that grazed child on I-95
- 9-year-old child struck in head on Sunday
- Deputies say the shooting was accidental
Justin Trayshod Weaver, of Cocoa, had been shooting a rifle on Tucker Lane, near the interstate, when a bullet struck a pickup truck traveling southbound, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office said.
The truck was full of passengers who told authorities that they heard popping noises. At first, they thought it was a tire popping, they said.
It turned out to be a bullet striking the back passenger window.
The bullet shattered the and grazed a child's head, deputies said. Two other people inside the vehicle were injured by shattered glass.
The driver pulled off at the Fiske Boulevard exit after noticing the child was injured.
The 9-year-old was flown to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando. Deputies said the child's injuries were not life-threatening.
The shooting was determined to be accidental. Weaver did not intentionally aim at the vehicle, according to Sheriff's Office spokesman Tod Goodyear.
"It was very close to being a fatal incident," Goodyear said.
According to Weaver's arrest report, he came out to Tucker Lane to target-practice with his girlfriend.
Autaz Smith, a good friend of Weaver's, said people need to stop going to that location to target practice.
"He (Weaver) is not a bad guy. It was a mistake," Smith said. "He should have gone to the gun range."
Weaver was booked into the Brevard County Jail on a $4,000 bond and bonded out Monday afternoon. He faces multiple charges, including culpable negligence inflicting harm, five counts of culpable negligence exposure to harm and discharging a firearm in public.
Spectrum News 13 reporter Krystel Knowles contributed to this story.