Man put gun to kneeling victim’s head and pulled trigger, Florida cops say. It jammed

A misfire at a crucial moment gave a terrified driver the seconds he needed to escape being shot in the head at point-blank range, according to investigators in Florida.

The victim, who was on his knees at the time, jumped up and ran into an orange grove before the shooter could fix the weapon, the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office said in a March 24 news release.

Details of the violent carjacking were revealed around 8 a.m. Saturday, March 22, when deputies found a man “dressed only in his underwear” walking along a road in Sebring, officials said. Sebring is about an 85-mile drive south from Orlando.

“He had survived a terrifying ordeal that started a couple of hours earlier in Avon Park. The victim said he had been driving on Main Street when he saw 29-year-old Joshua Yamir Torres walking. The victim recognized Torres, so (he) stopped to offer him a ride,” the sheriff’s office said.

“As they were traveling ... Torres pulled out a pistol and struck the victim in the face hard enough to break his nose. Torres then instructed the victim to drive to a secluded spot near Basket Lake. Once there, the victim was forced out of the vehicle and forced to strip down and get on his knees.”

Torres put his gun “to the victim’s head and pulled the trigger,” but it did not go off as expected, officials said.

He was in the process of trying to “re-rack the firearm” when a struggle erupted and the victim took off running into the orange grove, the sheriff’s office says.

Rather than pursue the victim, Torres took the man’s car and drove away, officials said. It was found abandoned in Avon Park “with a large amount of blood inside,” according to deputies.

Torres was located around 6:45 p.m. Saturday in Sebring and captured during a foot chase, officials said.

He is charged with:

• Attempted second-degree murder
• Armed carjacking
• Aggravated battery with a deadly weapon
• Kidnapping
• False imprisonment
• Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon

This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 9:15 AM with the headline "Man put gun to kneeling victim’s head and pulled trigger, Florida cops say. It jammed."