Duelling One Finger Salutes
Reportedly, Wonder has admitted it.
Looks like there is a lot to be learned from this one. It really looks like a civilian/civilian interaction. The deceased's status as a federal employee does not seem to have been an important factor in the shooting.
Road Rage Cited In Events Leading To Pettit Murder
Officer, Murder Suspect Trade Finger Gestures On Highway Before Arguing, Report Says
DAVIE (CBS4) ― A police report on the death of federal agent Donald Pettit appears to blame road rage as the cause of the murder, and paints a picture of Pettit acting aggressively against the man who now admits he pulled the trigger.
A probable cause report released by the Pembroke Pines Police Department Thursday said an argument on the road spilled out into the parking lot at the Pembroke Pines post office, where suspect James Wonder and Pettit argued before Wonder pulled out a pistol and shot Pettit.
The report said Wonder and Pettit were involved in some exchange on Dykes road, where Wonder may have been driving erratically. The report said the two men exchanged places on the road, one cutting off the other car.
The report went on to say both men traded insulting middle finger gestures while on the road, which ended when Wonder pulled into the post office. Pettit passed the post office, the report said, and then turned back into the post office where Wonder had parked.
Both men got out of their car, according to the report, and continued their argument. The probabe cause report said Wonder admitted reaching into his waistband, pulled out a handgun, and shot Pettit once in the head.
Deputy Chief Mike Segarra said Pettit was shot once in the back of the head.
In an afternoon news conference, Segarra offered little detail about the incident, and was unable to say if Pettit had business in the post office and pulled in to do that business, or if he was there only because of the confrontation with Wonder.
Pettit's 12-year-old daughter was a witness to the shooting, and Segarra had praised the information she provided as instrumental in Wonder's arrest. However at Thursday's news conference, Segarra could not say if the daughter knew why her father was at the post office, or what was said in the parking lot that might have touched off the shooting.
Segarra did offer details of the steps Wonder took to elude capture, including dyeing his hair after he heard a description mentioning gray hair, and using a rental car to keep a dialysis appointment the next day, parking and concealing the car he was driving at the time of the shooting.
Segarra declined to discuss reporter questions about Wonder's state of mind at the time of the shooting, saying the investigation would address claims that Wonder was affected by missing a dialysis appointment before the road rage incident.
When Segarra declined to discuss the officer's behavior on the road and in the parking lot, CBS4 reporter Gary Nelson asked Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis, who had attended the meeting to praise the officers, if the finger gestures and anger were appropriate behavior for a 35 year officer.
Ortis said simply that road rage is a serious problem and people need to be more careful about controlling their temper.
When the two men argued Pettit was officially on duty, according to his employer, US Customs and Border Protection. Chief Segarra could not say what Pettit was doing with his 12-year-old daughter in his government-issued car while he was officially on duty, and in response to reporters questions, would not detail what duties Pettit was performing, saying that is all a part of the investigation.
Wonder was taken into custody by investigators Wednesday at the Universal Kidney Center in Davie, showing up en masse at a Davie strip mall located at Hiatus Road and SR-84 around 2:30 p.m.
Pines police say they did recover several guns from Wonder's home. Police say one of those guns matches the caliber of the firearm used in the shooting.
Wonder remains jailed on a charge of first degree murder.
http://cbs4.com/local/killer.post.office.2.790345.html