The gunman in a Palmetto Expressway shooting spree has been sentenced to 18 years in prison. NBC 6 Reporter Claudia DoCampo explains.
A year after a man unleashed a hail of gunfire on the Palmetto Expressway, injuring multiple people while opening fire more than 100 times with an AK-47, he has been sentenced to 18 years behind bars.
Horvin Ruiz, 37, pleaded guilty to 16 counts of attempted murder Thursday in the May 29, 2017 shooting on the expressway in Miami-Dade. In return he must serve a mandatory 10 years in prison and must serve 85 percent of the remaining eight years before he'll be allowed to go on probation.
Authorities say Ruiz began randomly shooting from inside his Toyota Corolla as he was driving south on the expressway, hitting multiple cars. Police say he continued firing after Miami-Dade officers and Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrived until he ran out of ammunition, then fired more rounds from a 9mm handgun. Officers returned fire and Ruiz then surrendered.
One driver, identified as Enrique Bendana, was hit by a bullet and treated at a nearby gas station. He drove himself to Kendall Regional Medical Center.
When officers searched Ruiz's home they found another dozen weapons.
Ruiz's attorney, Josh Howard, said his client suffered from mental health issues and had self-admitted himself to a hospital a week before the shooting.
"It's always a tough situation when someone has mental health issues dating back his whole life," Howard said.
