Police: Ga. businessman shot at family SUV on I-95

SAVANNAH, Ga. – A Georgia businessman pulled alongside a family's SUV on Interstate 95 and fired several gunshots into the vehicle as it was carrying three small children home from a beach vacation, police said Thursday.

No one was hurt except the Ford Expedition's driver, who suffered minor injuries from flying glass when one of the bullets shattered a window during the shooting July 25, police in Port Wentworth said Thursday.

Police Detective Steven Holmes said five handgun rounds were fired into the SUV from a black Audi convertible, though most of the bullets lodged harmlessly in the driver's side door. He said the suspect sped off after the shooting.

The terrified family from Kennesaw in the greater Atlanta area was traveling home on I-95 near Savannah after visiting nearby Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Holmes said the SUV's driver recalled seeing a black Audi convertible whiz in and out of traffic while waiting to turn onto I-95, but could hardly believe he had provoked the shooting.

"He said the only thing he could think of was he threw his hands up in desperation as the car drove past him," Holmes said. "This was probably about 10 miles before the incident."

Police arrested 53-year-old Thurman Lee Howard of Savannah, co-owner of a local trucking company, at his business Monday. He has been charged with aggravated assault, cruelty to children, reckless driving and other crimes.

It took police in Port Wentworth, a few miles northwest of Savannah, a week to track down Howard as a suspect. Holmes said Howard had the only black Audi convertible with tags that matched a partial license-plate number and particular county given to police by witnesses.

Holmes declined to identify the family in the SUV.

Howard's attorney, Tom Withers, said he had no comment when contacted Thursday by The Associated Press.