A man who shot at George Zimmerman during a confrontation along a busy central Florida road has been ordered by a judge to turn in his weapons and avoid contact with Zimmerman.
Matthew Apperson made his first appearance before a judge Saturday. The Orlando Sentinel reported he was released on $35,000 bond after being charged Friday with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and firing a missile into an occupied conveyance.
Zimmerman's attorney said the former neighborhood watch volunteer was driving to a doctor's appointment Monday when Apperson intentionally fired his gun into Zimmerman's truck without provocation.
The passenger window of Zimmerman's pickup had a bullet hole in it, and Zimmerman suffered minor injuries from flying glass and debris.
Zimmerman and Apperson were involved in a road-rage episode last September.
Zimmerman was acquitted in the February 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in a case that sparked protests and a national debate about race relations.
Zimmerman's attorney, Don West, has said the former neighborhood watch volunteer had recently moved to another state but came back to the Orlando suburb of Lake Mary for Mother's Day. He was driving to a doctor's appointment Monday when Apperson intentionally fired his gun into Zimmerman's truck without provocation, detectives said.
Police recovered two guns from Apperson and one from Zimmerman. Both men had their guns legally.
The passenger window of Zimmerman's pickup had a bullet hole in it, and Zimmerman suffered minor injuries from flying glass and debris.
Apperson's attorney, Mark NeJame, said in an email Friday night that his client's bond was set at $35,000 and his release had been arranged.
Earlier this week NeJame said that the shooting was "a good, old-fashioned self-defense case." He said their encounter on Monday was pure "happenstance."
Zimmerman filed a defamation suit against NBC News in 2012. A judge dismissed that claim last year, and Zimmerman has appealed.
IN-DEPTH
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