73-year-old Jacksonville man shot with BB gun while bicycling

A 73-year-old man said someone in a moving car shot him with a BB gun while he was bicycling on a busy Jacksonville road.

Bill Eyler said he was doing a group ride on San Jose Boulevard in Lakewood when he heard the shots and felt a sharp pain.

“I heard the pops, I think, from the gun and felt the stings in my backside and the side of my hip,” said Eyler.

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He said it wasn’t the first sign of animosity his group experienced that night.

“Some guy sticks his hand out the window with a Taser in it and fired it. And you could just see the blue flames just flicking at the end of the Taser,” said Eyler.

Nine miles away, on Jacksonville’s eastside, another cyclist told Action News Jax last month that someone shot him with a BB gun, too.

“Really? Is this the way I’m supposed to ride my bike nowadays? In a warzone?” said Eyler.

He said he’s not going to let his injuries stop him from cycling.

“Oh, heck no.”

He hopes other cyclists don’t get scared off the road by drivers who don’t want to share it.

Cox Media Group