A Florida man accused of randomly fatally shooting three tourists near Disney World once tried to murder a stranger at a gas station — but was acquitted on insanity grounds and freed, a new report said.
Ahmad Jihad Bojeh, 29, of Kissimmee — who allegedly killed a trio of strangers at a rental property next to his home Saturday — was previously charged with attempted-first-degree murder over the terrifying gas-station incident, according to court records seen by FOX 35.
On May 14, 2021, Bojeh fired multiple rounds into random occupied cars, injuring one person, in a local Wawa gas-station parking lot, authorities said.
Bojeh was ultimately acquitted by reason of insanity and released back into the community until his arrest over the weekend for allegedly shooting dead three men, including two brothers.
“It was cold-blooded, it was premeditated, there was absolutely no issues” between Bojeh and Saturday’s victims, who had been stranded outside their rental home at the time because of car troubles, said Osceola County Sheriff Christopher Blackmon.
“This was just random.”
A witness of Bojeh’s 2021 shooting recalled having to help hide women and children from the gunman at the time, stashing them in a storage closet after walking into the Wawa and hearing gunshots.
Bojeh was charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery for the damage to the cars and two counts of criminal mischief in the case, according to court documents from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
Wawa shooting witness Lutfulla Normatov told FOX 35 that he only learned of Bojeh’s insanity plea later.
“The person shoots once in public, he’s gonna shoot again,” he said.
Bojeh’s defense team in the Wawa case admitted that he committed the crime but said he either didn’t understand the consequences of his actions or didn’t know what he did was wrong.
Officials want the law changed to require criminals who plead guilty on insanity grounds to be committed to a mental institution.
“If there’s a risk of them harming others, we need to ensure they’re locked up,” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier told FOX 35.
As part of Bojeh’s insanity plea, he was banned from owning weapons, law-enforcement sources told The Post.
Police had meanwhile been called multiple times to his property, mostly for disturbing the peace, law-enforcement sources said.
