Uber driver shoots would-be robber on South Florida highway

AVENTURA, Fla., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A would-be robber picked the wrong Uber driver as a target, getting shot and killed in his robbery attempt because the driver was armed and could protect himself and his passenger.

An Uber driver shot a man approaching his car with guns drawn after cutting him off on an access road next to the Lehman Causeway in Aventura, Fla.

Uber prohibits drivers or riders from carrying firearms in a vehicle while using the app, with violators potentially losing access to the service, but police say there have been several shootings in South Florida in the last month with victims shooting robbery suspects in the act, so it makes sense that a driver would want have some form of protection.

"You have to be very careful no matter where you are in any neighborhood," Margo Stashauer, who witnessed part of the scene Sunday morning before dawn, told WFOR-TV. "This is a great neighborhood, it's very safe, the police department -- the Aventura police department -- is right up the block."

The Uber driver, who has not been identified by police, picked up a passenger on Northeast 191st Street, blocks from the causeway, who requested a ride to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport. As the driver was turning onto a westbound road alongside the Lehman Causeway, a Dodge Caravan cut him off and a man got out with two handguns drawn, moving toward the Uber.

The driver pulled his own weapon, shot four times and killed the robber, and another person in the van drove away. Later Sunday, police reported they'd found a person they thought was the driver of the van.

The Uber driver, who is licensed to carry the weapon, is unlikely to have charges filed against him based on witnesses and that he appears to have been defending himself, his passenger and his car, police said.