A former physician at the Mayo Clinic in Florida is facing serious charges after allegedly discharging a firearm at a vehicle occupied by high school students. The incident reportedly began when the teenagers threw cheese at the doctor’s Range Rover, leading to a high-speed chase. Dr. Bruce Mitchell, 67, was apprehended in Ponte Vedra Beach on a recent Saturday evening.
The high school students, who are athletes at a private school in Jacksonville, confessed to the police that they had been tossing cheese at a stoplight. However, they claimed that the situation escalated when a black Range Rover, later identified as Mitchell’s, started pursuing them aggressively once the light turned green, according to the St. John’s Citizen.
The teenagers reported that they attempted to evade the Range Rover by accelerating and swerving between lanes. Mitchell is then alleged to have brandished a firearm from his vehicle and discharged a round into the air. This action reportedly prompted the teenage driver to accelerate away rapidly.
The young driver told the police that he was thinking, “I don’t want to die” throughout the ordeal. One of the passengers also expressed that he was terrified for his life and the lives of his friends. They managed to call 911 from the car during the chase.
Mitchell reportedly ceased his pursuit of the teenagers when he passed a police vehicle and drove off in a different direction. He was subsequently stopped by the police. Court documents reveal that Mitchell exited his vehicle without being instructed to do so, leading the officers to draw their weapons and order him to surrender.
A Sig Sauer pistol was discovered in Mitchell’s glovebox, along with a loaded magazine on the passenger seat and a spent bullet cartridge in the footwell. Following his arrest, Mitchell claimed that the teenagers had fired at him first, but refused to provide further comment. No weapons were found in the teenagers’ vehicle.
Mitchell is facing charges of discharging a weapon from a vehicle and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill. He was released on bond after being booked. Mitchell previously served as the director of Hospital Medicine at Emory University and worked at the Jacksonville Mayo Clinic for 14 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.