A driver is dead after a late-night traffic stop on Interstate 95 in Indian River County turned into a pursuit and an exchange of gunfire with Florida Highway Patrol troopers, closing the interstate in both directions for more than 12 hours, the Florida Highway Patrol said. The shooting happened at about 11:20 p.m. on Thursday, November 12, 2026, near mile marker 141 on I-95 in Indian River County, about three miles north of Indrio Road in St. Lucie County, according to a release from Lt. Indiana Miranda, an FHP spokesperson, reported by Treasure Coast Newspapers.

Source: Treasure Coast Newspapers / USA TODAY Network via Reuters

According to FHP, the incident began when a trooper using flashing lights stopped a vehicle that had driven past at 90 mph in a 65-to-70 mph zone. The vehicle pulled over around Indrio Road, but FHP says the driver was hostile to the trooper after being asked for his licence and registration. A second trooper stepped in and also asked for the licence, at which point the driver accelerated and fled, Miranda said.

"The incident began when a trooper initiated a traffic stop," Miranda stated. "The subject fled from the traffic stop, resulting in a pursuit that subsequently escalated into an exchange of gunfire between the trooper and the subject." Both troopers got into their vehicles and pursued the fleeing car northbound, and the primary trooper called out locations and speed over the radio before reporting that shots were being fired at them, Miranda said.

The trooper returned fire while driving and performed a special driving technique to force the vehicle to stop, FHP said. After the exchange of gunfire, the vehicle crashed near mile marker 141. The driver was pronounced deceased at the scene.

FHP said the driver "sustained what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced deceased at the scene." However, in a briefing on the afternoon of Friday, November 13, Miranda said it is not immediately known whether the man died of a wound inflicted by a trooper or by himself, and that question remains under investigation. Readers should treat the exact cause of death as not yet established.

Sheriff's office: shots were already being fired as the pursuit crossed into Indian River County

Lt. Kevin Jaworski of the Indian River County Sheriff's Office said FHP notified his agency at about 10:38 p.m. that a pursuit was coming north on I-95 into Indian River County. "They advised that there were shots being fired from the vehicle at the trooper," Jaworski said. "They advised our deputies that there was some shooting happening as this vehicle came into our county."

Source: Treasure Coast Newspapers / USA TODAY Network via Reuters

The sheriff's SWAT team, an armoured vehicle, crisis negotiators and a mobile command post responded to the scene. "Once SWAT arrived with the armored vehicle … they flew some drones over the crashed vehicle," Jaworski said. "They were able to see a body next to the vehicle, and they were able to approach it safely and then ultimately determine that the subject was deceased." Jaworski said it was quickly ruled out that anyone else had been in the vehicle, and FHP took over the incident.

I-95 closed in both directions until about noon on Friday

I-95 was closed in both directions after the incident, according to the Indian River County Sheriff's Office and Florida 511 alerts reported by CBS12. As of 5:22 a.m. on November 13, all northbound lanes were closed near mile marker 141, and a separate alert listed all southbound lanes closed near Oslo Road as of 5:41 a.m., with the southbound entrance ramp at Oslo Road also closed. Northbound drivers were diverted at Indrio Road in St. Lucie County and southbound drivers at Oslo Road in Indian River County, and the northbound entrance ramp from Indrio Road was closed. The interstate reopened at about noon on Friday, Jaworski said.

Source: CBS12 via Florida 511

Background: a busy freight and travel corridor, and a similar shooting 15 months ago

Interstate 95 is the main north-south highway along Florida's Atlantic coast and one of the busiest freight and travel corridors in the eastern United States, carrying long-haul trucks as well as local traffic through St. Lucie and Indian River counties on the Treasure Coast. An overnight closure in both directions therefore affects truckers and travellers far beyond the immediate area. The incident comes about 15 months after a deadly shooting on I-95 in St. Lucie County, where on August 12, 2025, a man suspected in a Palm Beach County homicide was fatally shot by law enforcement on I-95 after he was accused of pointing a handgun at investigators, officials said at the time.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is leading the investigation into the November 12 shooting. The identity of the deceased driver had not been released as of Friday afternoon, and FHP had not released further information about the incident. What happens next is the FDLE investigation, the formal determination of the cause of death, and the release of the driver's identity once next of kin have been notified.