Florida dads shoot young girls in road-rage gun battle

Two Florida fathers arrested for shooting and injuring each other's young daughters in a horrific road rage ordeal

0 of 1 minute, 31 secondsVolume 0%

00:00

01:30

01:31

Two “crazy” dads have been charged with attempted murder after allegedly opening fire and hitting each other’s daughters in a terrifying road-rage gun battle in Florida, authorities said.

Strangers William Hale, 35, and Frank Allison, 43, shot at each other’s vehicles with semi-automatic handguns during a high-speed “cat and mouse” chase late Saturday — and were finally busted when they got out and started brawling on the highway, according to cops.

During the gun battle, Hale’s 5-year-old daughter was hit in the leg and Allison’s 14-year-old daughter was shot in the back, leaving her with a collapsed lung, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said Monday.

“What’s scarier than one crazy driver with a gun? Two crazy drivers with a gun,” the shocked sheriff said.

“Thankfully, no one was killed in this incident, but it could have very easily turned out that way because two people were acting stupid and let their tempers get the best of them.

Accused road-rage shooters Frank Allison (l) and William Hale (r) — Dads Frank Allison (l) and William Hale (r) charged with attempted murder after shooting each other’s daughters in a high-speed road-rage gun battle.

Frank Allison's mugshot. — Allison said he fired once, hitting his road-rage rival’s 5-year-old daughter in the leg, “to get out of the situation,” according to the sheriff.

William Hale's mugshot. — Hale said that after he realized his daughter had been hit he “shot everything that was in the magazine,” hitting Allison’s 14-year-old daughter in the back, according to the sheriff.

“There could have been two dead kids because of two stupid grown men.”

Leeper said the agency “received multiple 911 calls with reports of people being shot at” on Highway 1 near Callahan in suburban Jacksonville.

One of those callers told authorities that a black Dodge Ram pickup was “involved in a cat and mouse game” with a gray Nissan Murano — and that another vehicle at one point was also involved ahead of the gun battle.

Hale, from Georgia, and local man Allison were “speeding” and “driving erratically,” Leeper said, adding that the men were also brake-checking — which he explained was a practice that involves “getting in front of each other and applying the brakes.”

At one point, Hale pulled his Dodge alongside the Nissan to start shouting — just for Allison’s wife, Jessica, to “flick him off with her middle finger.” In response, a water bottle was flung back at her.

“The driver of the Nissan, Allison, then grabbed his Sig Sauer .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun and fired one shot at the Dodge truck before driving away at an average speed,” Leeper said, saying the driver admitted firing the shot “to get out of the situation.”

“The bullet that Mr. Allison fired went into the right side rear passenger door and struck a 5-year-old girl in the right leg.”

Hale later told officers that “he heard a loud pop but thought nothing of it until everyone started freaking out in the back seat,” Leeper said.

“He then realized his daughter was shot,” the sheriff said.

Police footage of road-rage arrest. — Hale and Allison pulled over after seeing a sheriff’s deputy but started fighting, the sheriff said.

Shirtless William Hale getting arrested saturday. — Hale was shirltess as he was shown arguing and getting arrested in suburban Jacksonville on Saturday.

Allison in the arrest video. — Allison, pictured, and Hale were only arrested after a deputy broke up their brawl, cops said.

Allison getting arrested. — Allison, pictured, and Hale were both charged with attempted murder for allegedly hitting each other’s daughters.

Hale then “sped up” and “began firing several shots from his Glock 43 9mm semi-automatic handgun out of the driver window,” the sheriff said.

Hale later admitted that “he shot everything that was in the magazine — seven or eight rounds,” the sheriff said.

“At least three bullets struck the Nissan. One of the bullets went through the rear of the vehicle and struck a 14-year-old girl in the back,” he said.

Both men’s wives called 911 during the wild battle and agreed to pull over to meet a deputy, court docs show.

Instead, both men “got out and started arguing and fighting. The deputy had to break up the fight,” Leeper said.

Both men were arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder, the sheriff said. They were each released hours later on $150,000 bond, court records show.