(NewsNation) — Charges are being dropped against one of the participants in a Florida road rage incident that left two girls wounded.
Both drivers initially faced charges for attempted murder after firing at each other’s cars in a conflict that left both men’s daughters wounded. Officials in Nassau County, Florida, dropped the charges against 44-year-old Frank Allison under Florida’s self-defense laws.
In October 2022, 36-year-old William Hale and Frank Allison were both driving on Highway 1. A witness reported the two vehicles driving erratically, cutting in front of each other and braking. They reported Hale pulled up next to Allison’s car, yelling at him to pull over. Allison’s wife, a passenger, put her arm out the window and flipped him off.
Allison told authorities he began firing after a water bottle was thrown into his car, aiming for the bed or tires on Hale’s truck.
Hale said he heard the shots before he grabbed the gun he kept in the car and began firing out his window.
Both men were driving with their families and Hale’s 5-year-old daughter was hit in the calf while Allison’s 14-year-old daughter ended up suffering a collapsed lung.
In a news conference regarding the initial arrests, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper described the incident as people “doing dumb things” on the road.
Investigators said the charges against Allison were dropped after determining that Hale instigated the conflict by trying to run Allison off the road and Allison’s first shots were considered “justifiable” under Florida’s Stand Your Ground laws. Throwing an object at a moving vehicle is a felony in Florida.
Hale is still facing multiple charges, including attempted murder, aggravated assault and firing out of a moving vehicle.