JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — What began as a routine rideshare trip turned into a highway nightmare for a local Uber driver, who is now recovering after being shot on Interstate 295 late Sunday evening.
Roberto Diaz was driving on I-295 around 10:00 p.m. to pick up a passenger when the violent encounter unfolded. Diaz had just dropped off a passenger at the Jacksonville International Airport when he headed to his next passenger; that’s when heavy rain forced him to slow down and activate his hazard lights.
According to Diaz, an aggressive driver in a speeding SUV quickly approached his vehicle through the traffic.
“I look through my side mirrors, and I see this car, this SUV that is speeding on the way to us,” Diaz said. “He hit the shoulder, he tried to go in front of me, and he couldn’t fit. It made me stop because he was gonna hit me.”
Diaz stated that the SUV pulled into the adjacent lane, and the driver opened fire without warning.
“He just pulled out a gun and started shooting me out of nowhere,” Diaz recalled. “When I see the shots going, getting fired, you know, I just tucked my head in. I didn’t know what to do at that moment.”
Panicked and wounded, Diaz managed to take the Commonwealth Avenue exit and drove himself to a local emergency room. Today, a bullet hole remains clearly visible in his car, and Diaz is forced to use crutches as a bullet remains lodged inside his foot.
While Diaz survived the shooting, he expressed deep frustration and a growing sense of unease regarding the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) response to the investigation.
“The police told me, ‘I’m sure that it was gang bang initiation or they, or they were just mad. So there’s nothing else to do after here.’ And that’s where I feel unsafe,” Diaz said.
The sudden violence has placed an immense emotional and financial strain on the victims’ family. Diaz is the sole provider for his household, and his wife gave birth to their youngest child just two months ago. Because of his injuries, Diaz is currently unable to work.
His sister, Kazandra Ruiz, shared the family’s terror over how close the shooting came to ending in tragedy, while expressing hope that authorities will find the shooter.
“They could have killed him, you know, and he’s a father of a two-month-old baby,” Ruiz said. “They just had a baby... it would have been way worse. I feel like God was with him.”
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