Nathaniel Padgett was shot after police say a driver trailed him from the Turnpike to his workplace.
RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — The first call for help in the killing of FedEx driver Nathaniel Padgett came from the woman beside him, who told dispatchers he had been shot outside the company’s Riviera Beach warehouse.
The emergency call became one of the clearest public records of the April 16 shooting that killed Padgett, 34, and led to murder and stalking charges against Tyler Brandon Vidro. Police said the call captured the panic after a road rage encounter moved from Florida’s Turnpike to the FedEx facility at 1177 West Blue Heron Blvd. It also fixed the time of the shooting response at about 9:14 p.m.
Padgett had been driving a FedEx truck with his girlfriend as a passenger before the shooting, according to the police affidavit. The couple was traveling from the Port St. Lucie area toward the Riviera Beach hub when Vidro pulled up beside the truck on the Turnpike, police said. He lowered his window and made gestures that investigators described as an attempt to provoke Padgett. Padgett kept driving. The woman later told police that Vidro continued behind them, following the FedEx truck all the way to the workplace where Padgett was ending his route.
At the hub, Padgett drove into a rear parking and loading area that police described as restricted private commercial property. Surveillance video showed Vidro’s gray sedan following into the same area shortly afterward, investigators said. Vidro got out, moved around the lot and waited near the loading bay doors. Padgett went into the building, came back out and walked toward his personal Dodge pickup. Police said surveillance audio then captured Vidro accusing him of hitting his car. Padgett denied it and tried to reach his vehicle.
The woman was still on the property as the confrontation continued. Investigators said Padgett tried to get away by returning to the FedEx truck and driving to another side of the facility. Vidro followed. Padgett stopped near a private road, got out and picked up a concrete block from the ground. Police said he held it near his waist and said he had not hit Vidro’s car. The affidavit said the block was not thrown and was not raised in a threatening way. Seconds later, multiple gunshots were fired, and Padgett fell before reaching the passenger side of his truck.
His girlfriend called 911 and reported that Padgett had been shot. She told the dispatcher they were at the FedEx warehouse and asked how close help was. The dispatcher told her not to move him and said emergency crews were a few minutes away. When she asked whether it would be faster to take him to a hospital herself, the dispatcher told her not to move him. Police and emergency medical crews then responded to the property. Padgett was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center with multiple gunshot wounds.
Police said Padgett was struck seven times, including three wounds to the chest, two to the lower abdomen, one to the arm and one to the leg. A shot detection system had registered multiple shots at the FedEx site moments before the 911 call, and investigators later found nine 9 mm shell casings. Padgett was pronounced dead at about 11:28 p.m. The girlfriend’s call, the shot detection alert and the hospital record gave investigators a tight timeline for the final hours of Padgett’s workday.
Vidro was not at the FedEx hub when officers arrived, police said. About 20 minutes after the shooting, he called West Palm Beach police from a Sunoco gas station. He said he felt threatened and had used his firearm. He also told police, “I didn’t think to call you guys, but the lawyer told me to,” according to records. Officers later found him at the gas station. After he was advised of his rights, police said, Vidro admitted that he had emptied the magazine of his firearm. He then asked for an attorney.
Investigators said the girlfriend’s account matched key parts of the surveillance footage. She described Vidro following closely after the Turnpike encounter, and cameras showed his sedan entering the FedEx property behind Padgett. Police said the video showed Padgett trying to disengage, first by moving toward his personal truck and later by driving to another part of the lot. Detectives also wrote that Vidro had no lawful reason to enter the restricted area. Those findings shaped the decision to charge him with aggravated stalking along with first-degree murder.
The case file also records what remains unknown in the public account. Police reports do not establish that Padgett ever struck Vidro’s car. The affidavit says Vidro made the accusation at the facility, but investigators described Padgett as denying it. The records also do not say that Padgett fired a weapon. The only object described in his hands was the concrete block, and police said the video did not show him throwing it or raising it before the shots were fired.
The killing has drawn attention in part because it crossed two familiar settings: a highway dispute and a workplace lot. Local residents interviewed after the shooting said aggressive driving is common on South Florida roads. Dennis Booth said drivers often cut people off, make obscene gestures and ride close behind other vehicles. For police, however, the case did not end with a warning about traffic behavior. It became a homicide investigation focused on pursuit, property access, gunfire and the death of a worker who had just returned to his job site.
Vidro’s case was pending in Palm Beach County as of May 10, 2026. Prosecutors are expected to rely on the 911 call, surveillance video, witness statements, shell casings and Vidro’s statements from the gas station as the case moves through court.
Author note: Last updated May 10, 2026.