Crime & Safety

Bond Set At $35,000 for George Zimmerman's Accused Shooter

Matthew Apperson is allowed no contact with Zimmerman and must surrender all guns to Seminole County.

Days after a shooting incident that rocked the small town of Lake Mary, the man accused of firing a gun at George Zimmerman has been formally charged in the case.

Mark Apperson appeared before a Seminole County judge Saturday morning after turning himself into Lake Mary Police Friday night. Apperson has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery and firing a missile into a vehicle, according to Seminole County Jail records.

On Saturday morning, Judge Michael Rudisill set bond for Apperson at $35,000. He was also ordered to surrender any guns in his possession to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and is allowed no contact with Zimmerman, Click Orlando reported.

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“I don’t care if you have been shopping at Publix for two hours, and have a full cart of groceries or whatever, if you see Mr. Zimmerman walking through the door, you are the one who has to leave,” the station quoted Rudisill as saying.

Apperson, 36, is accused of firing a gun into a vehicle driven by Zimmerman on Lake Mary Boulevard Monday afternoon. The shooting incident happened just east of Interstate 4 around 12:45 p.m. Zimmerman suffered minor injuries during the altercation, Lake Mary Police Department spokeswoman Bianca Gillett said during a Monday press conference.

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Gillett said Zimmerman flagged down a police officer shortly after the incident occurred. At the same time, a third-party 911 call came in about the shooting. Apperson told police through the caller he had just been involved in a shooting, Gillett said.

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Zimmerman, Gillett said, was not the shooter.

Apperson, had a .40 caliber Glock and a .357 revolver inside his vehicle, the police department announced in a Tuesday media release. Zimmerman was also packing a Glock at the time of the shooting, police noted.

Zimmerman was treated and released from a local hospital following the shooting, Gillet confirmed. He was hit by shattered glass and not a bullet, officials have said.

Arraignment in the case against Apperson is set to begin June 23 before Judge Debra Nelson, the same judge who presided over Zimmerman’s trial in the Trayvon Martin case, Click Orlando noted. As of Saturday afternoon, Apperson remained in the Seminole County Jail, records indicate.

Zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting death of the unarmed black teenager in 2013. He has been in and out of the news since his acquittal, most recently blaming President Barack Obama for racial tensions that erupted following Martin’s 2012 death. He was also implicated in a road rage incident and had domestic violence allegations levied against him that were subsequently dropped.

Federal civil rights charges in the 17-year-old’s death loomed over Zimmerman until recently. The U.S. Justice Department cited “insufficient evidence” for its February decision against pursuing further action. Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch captain in Sanford when the 2012 shooting took place. His acquittal sparked protests across the country.

Booking photo courtesy of the Seminole County Jail

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