Authorities say that a guy from Riverview shot a pregnant woman several times out of anger after a crash in Palmetto. The man also struck a pregnant mother with twins multiple times. She and her unborn children are still in critical condition.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office says that 50-year-old Vincent Steele was charged with five counts of attempted murder after a shooting on Sunday that happened because of a fight on the road.
Around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Steele was driving a BMW car north on Business U.S. 41 north in Palmetto when he tried to pass the pickup truck in the merge lane.
When the front bumper of the truck hit Steele’s back bumper, Steele lost control and went off the road into the grass side in the 6900 block of U.S. 41.
A man close to the family said, “They just started hearing gunshots, and they said they could actually hear the bullets and the ricochets actually hitting the vehicle, and it stunned them. They said he couldn’t take off or leave because he was in shock.” The truck driver then pulled over to check on the BMW.
Local police say the victim pulled over to check on the driver. That’s when Steele got out of his BMW, ran up to the victim’s passenger door, and fired seven rounds into the truck.
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The bullets hit a woman in her 36s who was pregnant with twins three times in the lower chest. The woman’s fiancé was driving the pickup truck. When he saw that she was hurt, he took her to Manatee Memorial Hospital.
MCSO said that neither of the kids was hit by a bullet. After that, she was taken to Tampa General Hospital. A family friend said she has been in and out of surgery all day.
No harm came to the 57-year-old driver or the 9-year-old girl who was riding with her. Police nabbed Steele after he stayed at the scene of the shooting and talked to them.
When Steele went to court for the first time, his family spoke out in his favor. Adora Steele, his daughter, told the judge that he was on his way home from picking up his sick wife from work.
The suspect is still in the Manatee County Jail, and his pre-trial hearing is set for Friday morning. Based on how healthy the woman and her kids are, the charges could go up.
“The twins, the unborn twins of the female, are fighting for their life right now, and if they do in fact lose that fight he will be looking at murder charges,” said the state attorney’s office.
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