A couple has been arrested and charged after shooting at an unarmed family of color because they falsely assumed the men were attempting to steal gas.
The incident occurred in Tallahassee, Florida, where Beverly and Wallace Fountain, 72 and 77, opened fire on two men, Charles McMillon Jr. and Kendrick Clemons, and a 10-year-old child as they arrived at a U-Haul.
According to the police, the couple falsely assumed that the family was involved in a series of fuel theft and vandalism at the strip mall.
The incident unfolded as Clemons and McMillon were returning to the U-Haul to drop off the vehicle they had rented.
To make sure Clemons had a ride back home, McMillon followed him in his own car. After the pair, who also had a 10-year-old with them at the time of the incident, returned the U-Haul vehicle, Clemons joined McMillon in his car.
That’s when the Fountain couple came charging towards the trio with their guns raised. As the couple ordered them not to move, McMillon quickly reversed his car and fled the scene as shots were fired at them.
Following the shooting, a nearby police officer rushed to the scene and attempted to arrest the couple who allegedly disobeyed his commands at first.
“The male and female could be heard saying that the occupants were possibly stealing fuel and that the male could not hear my verbal commands,” the police wrote in the arrest report.
“Both the male and the female were not obeying my commands at first, however, they eventually placed the firearms on the ground and laid on the ground, away from the firearms.”
After the Fountains were detained, the couple told the police they assumed the black family was responsible for stealing gas and vandalizing fuel lines at the U-Haul in question.
As the vigilante couple said, they were surveilling the area when they saw the trio arrive at the U-Haul. According to the Fountains, they assumed the family was trying to steal gas even though Beverly admitted they never actually saw them steal anything.
Following the arrest, the couple has been released and ordered to surrender their guns. They have been charged with three counts of aggravated assault each.
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