Background: The West Bradenton, Florida, neighborhood where Nicholas Koontz shot and killed Timothy Andricks in 2021 (screengrab via The Bradenton Herald). Inset: Nicholas Koontz (via Florida State’s Attorney’s Office).
A Florida man fatally gunned down a driver who allegedly attacked him — with a paper cup of ice from McDonald’s.
Nicholas Koontz, 35, was convicted of manslaughter with a firearm after a three-day trial in Manatee County that ended Wednesday, according to a press release from the Florida State Attorney’s Office for the 12th Judicial Circuit. According to prosecutors, Koontz and victim Timothy Andricks got into “an apparent road rage altercation while driving in west Bradenton” on Oct. 12, 2021, the press release said.
“During the altercation, the victim evidently threw his paper McDonald’s cup which contained ice and soda at the defendant’s car,” the release said. “The defendant then followed the victim at a high rate of speed until they came to a stop on a residential street. When the unarmed victim exited his car, the defendant exited his car and shot the victim several times.”
Koontz was “arrested within an hour” and “made no statements to law enforcement,” the press release notes.
At trial, however, “the defendant claimed for the first time that he was acting in self-defense,” the prosecutor’s office noted.
A witness “captured the shooting on his ring camera” and was able to provide details to investigators, according to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime. The video reportedly showed Andricks behind the wheel of a silver Toyota Camry “pulling up to a stop sign at a high rate of speed, followed closely by a black SUV.”
“Both vehicles come to a complete stop,” the affidavit continued. “Timothy exits the Camry, with nothing in his hands and starts walking back towards the black SUV.”
Koontz shot Andricks as the victim walked back to his car, the affidavit said.
“The white male driving the black SUV, exits his vehicle and fires multiple gunshots at Timothy Andricks and he immediately falls to the ground,” said the document.
Witnesses were able to take down partial license plate numbers and provide them to police. The car was tracked to Koontz’s residence.
“Investigators responded to the residence and contacted Nicholas Koontz’s father,” the affidavit said. “During this conversation, Nicholas father stated that his son arrived at the residence and was visibly upset.”
Witnesses also told investigators that Koontz had been seen parking his black SUV “in the fenced area of his residence which is not visible from the street” after “moving vehicles out of the driveway.”
Koontz faces a potential maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set, according to the state attorney’s office.
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