A 21-year-old man is currently being held without bond in a Volusia County jail after he was arrested for pointing a gun at a Black family in traffic, unprovoked.
The victims, a Black mother, father, and their two children under the age of 12, told Volusia County deputies that on Sunday, June 27, a stranger fitting the description of Nicholas J. Gordon in a 4-door yellow hatchback pulled up to the family’s car and proceeded to terrorize them. According to CBS 12, the man jumped out of the passenger seat, pulled a gun on them, and threatened “I will kill you n—-s.” Three other people were in the vehicle with the suspect at the time.
No physical harm came to the family, which attempted to drive away, afraid for their lives, but was pursued by the suspect. When the pursuing vehicle caught up to the family, “the driver stepped out of the car and yelled more obscenities at them before getting back in, turning around and fleeing,” according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office press release.
The victims drove away from the intersection trying to get to safety, but the suspect vehicle chased after them, and caught up with the family again when they got stopped in traffic at the intersection of International Speedway Boulevard. The victims told deputies the driver stepped out of the car and yelled more obscenities at them before getting back in, turning around and fleeing.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office identified Gordon’s vehicle via business surveillance videos, which show it following the victim’s car. He was pulled over when officers spotted him not far from the scene of the incident. Initially, he told officers that he hadn’t been in town and that he didn’t have any weapons in the vehicle, before later admitting that there was a gun in his lunchbox. Gordon assumed he was stopped because “that Black lady that brake-checked me, and then she started trying to follow me…”
Volusia County officers then told him that he and his vehicle fit the exact description given by the victims who alleged of “a firearm being used in the vehicle.” Only after being shown surveillance footage by detectives did Gordon admit to his involvement in the incident and blamed the family for attempting to drive off after hitting his car and attempting to run. According to Gordon, he and his friends were chasing them “to try and exchange information,” however no reports of an accident were filed and there was no visible damage to Gordon’s vehicle.
When asked why he armed himself during the supposed innocent exchange of information, Gordon admitted that “he knew (the victims) were African-American and he knew from past experiences African-Americans can be violent.” He also admitted that the family did “nothing” to him to make him feel threatened enough to draw a weapon, other than being Black.
Detectives concluded that the incident was “clearly” a hate crime and that the family was targeted simply because of the color of their skin. “At the conclusion of the investigation, all evidence indicated this incident was clearly just a violent hate crime where the suspect pointed a firearm directly at the victims, a family in their car with children, who were solely targeted for being African-American,” they wrote in closing.
According to his Volusia County Corrections public record, Gordon has been brought up on two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, child abuse and carrying a concealed weapon. His case has been classified as a hate crime, which enhances the charges.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood has publicly decried racist behavior in the community and vowed to pursue any and everyone who commits “an abhorrent act of hate.”
Chitwood said, “This type of behavior will not be tolerated in Volusia County. I want everyone to know the Volusia Sheriff’s Office will do everything possible to track down and arrest anyone who commits such an abhorrent act of hate in this community.
