A 22-year-old woman from Georgia was arrested for allegedly going on a shooting spree on the day of the solar eclipse and telling people that God told her to do it.
Taylon Nichelle Celestine faces charges of attempted murder and aggravated battery for the Monday shootings. She is accused of injuring two people after opening fire on vehicles travelling Interstate 10 through northern Florida.
One victim was shot in the neck and is currently in the hospital receiving treatment. The other was grazed on the arm by a bullet.
Before the incident, Celestine allegedly checked out of a local hotel and told staff there that she was “going on a shooting spree, directed by ‘God’ in relation to the solar eclipse,” Florida Highway Patrol wrote in a statement.
No other details about motives were provided in the statement.
After leaving the hotel, police say Celestine got into a purple Dodge Challenger with Georgia plates and travelled westbound on Interstate 10.
Almost immediately after entering the highway, police allege Celestine fired multiple shots into another car, shattering the windows of the vehicle. The driver was struck by glass fragments and grazed by a bullet, but he was able to steer away from the shooter and pulled off onto the shoulder of the road.
Celestine allegedly kept driving and shot at another car, striking the second victim in the neck.
Florida Highway Patrol learned of the active shooting and was able to intercept the vehicle about 16 miles (25 kilometres) down from where it had entered the interstate. In the car, police found an AR-15 rifle and a nine-millimetre handgun.
Police did not say which firearm was used in the shooting, or if both guns were fired.
Celestine was arrested “without incident” and taken to Holmes County Jail in Bonifay, Fla., where she was booked for attempted murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and improper discharge of a firearm.
The incident is still under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol Bureau of Investigations and Intelligence.
The total solar eclipse on April 8, which cut a path across the eastern U.S. and parts of southeast Canada, was a moment of awe for many as the moon perfectly blocked out the sun for a few brief minutes.
But for Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican representative from Georgia, it was a scary sign of the times, considering that a 4.8-magnitude earthquake hit the eastern seaboard on April 5.
The far-right politician faced backlash for posting on X: “God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent. Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens.”
Eclipses do not happen because of any action on Earth, they occur on a regular basis when the position of the moon and sun align when viewed from Earth. Eclipses are reliably predicted hundreds of years in advance by observing the orbits of these celestial bodies.
Greene, who happens to be from the same state as Celestine, has not withdrawn the post and even doubled down on her position.
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