A woman in Florida started shooting at vehicles on the highway after “God” told her to go on a shooting spree in reaction to the solar eclipse. She laid out her plan to workers at the hotel while she was checking out. Taylon Nichelle Celestine of Georgia went through with that plan and opened fire on multiple cars on Interstate 10, striking multiple vehicles
The 22-year-old got onto the highway about 112 miles from the Alabama border in the Florida Panhandle and began heading west in her purple Dodge Challenger with Georgia plates, according to a press release from Florida Highway Patrol. Within 5 miles of entering the highway, Celestine started shooting – firing into a passenger car several times. One driver was not hit by the bullet, but they were grazed in the arm by shattered glass. She drove westbound for a bit and then began shooting at a second vehicle, hitting the driver in the neck. They were treated at a local hospital.
Responding State Troopers found Celestine and her car at the 96-mile marker and conducted a felon traffic stop. They found an AR-15 and a 9mm handgun inside the purple Challenger, according to Highway Patrol. She was taken into custody without incident and transferred to the Holmes County Jail where she was booked on charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and improper discharge of a firearm. The Florida Highway Patrol Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence is conducting the ongoing investigation.
Florida was not in the total solar eclipse’s path of totality, but that apparently was not enough to dissuade Celestine or “God”.