Police say a driver followed the victim from Port St. Lucie to a Riviera Beach FedEx hub before opening fire.
RIVIERA BEACH, FL — A road rage dispute that began on Florida’s Turnpike ended in a fatal shooting outside a FedEx facility in Riviera Beach, where police say a Boynton Beach man followed a delivery worker for miles and shot him multiple times late April 16.
Nathaniel Padgett, a FedEx worker, died after the shooting at the company’s home delivery hub on West Blue Heron Boulevard. Police arrested Tyler Brandon Vidro, 24, and charged him with first-degree premeditated murder. Court records later added an aggravated stalking charge. Investigators say the case matters because it turned what they describe as a traffic confrontation into a targeted killing at a restricted workplace, raising questions about how long the pursuit lasted and what happened in the final moments before gunfire.
Investigators say the conflict started earlier that night in Port St. Lucie as Padgett drove a FedEx truck back toward Palm Beach County. According to arrest records described by local media, Vidro told police he believed Padgett had hit his car. Padgett’s girlfriend, who was riding with him, later told investigators that the other driver pulled alongside the truck and tried to provoke a confrontation by lowering his window and gesturing. Police say the pair kept driving south, but the other vehicle stayed with them. When Padgett reached the FedEx facility at 1177 W. Blue Heron Blvd. in Riviera Beach to return the truck and switch to his own vehicle, investigators say the driver had followed them all the way there. Police say surveillance footage and witness statements show Vidro waiting near the property and then confronting Padgett after he got out of the truck. The shooting was reported just after 9 p.m., and officers who responded found Padgett with multiple gunshot wounds in a gated employee area.
Authorities say Padgett was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center, where he later died. Police first described the shooting as targeted and said there was no ongoing danger to the public. Riviera Beach police spokesperson Mike Jachles said officers identified the suspect through witness statements, surveillance video and physical evidence. He said officers later found Vidro at a Sunoco station near 45th Street and Australian Avenue in West Palm Beach and took him into custody without incident. Investigators say Vidro later claimed self-defense. But records cited by local outlets say police concluded there was no evidence Padgett acted in a threatening way before he was shot. Those records say Padgett at one point picked up a concrete block near the edge of a private roadway while insisting he had not hit Vidro’s vehicle. Police say video and audio from the scene showed Padgett trying to disengage and leave, and that Vidro kept pursuing him around the facility before shots were fired. Local reports say Padgett was struck seven times.
FedEx said in a statement that it was “deeply saddened” by the killing and was cooperating with investigators. The company described Padgett as a service provider employee and said the safety of workers remained its top priority. Police have said Vidro was not a FedEx employee and, in the early stage of the investigation, they were still trying to determine whether the two men had any relationship beyond the traffic dispute. That question became less central as court records and reporting pointed to the road rage allegation as the main motive described by investigators. The case also drew attention because the confrontation did not end on the highway. Instead, police say it continued across county lines and onto restricted private property at a busy delivery hub. That sequence has become a key part of the prosecution’s theory. Investigators say Vidro had no lawful reason to be on the property and appeared to be waiting for Padgett to come out, a detail prosecutors can use to argue premeditation rather than a sudden fight.
The legal case began quickly. Vidro was booked into the Palm Beach County jail after his arrest and initially faced a first-degree murder count. At his first court appearance, prosecutors formally added an aggravated stalking charge tied to the pursuit. A judge ordered him held without bond on the murder charge and set a $10,000 bond on the stalking count, while also directing him to have no contact with the victim’s family, according to local court reporting. His next court appearance is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. May 17 before Circuit Judge John Parnofiello. The murder charge means prosecutors will focus on whether the state can show planning, pursuit and intent before the shooting. The stalking count, meanwhile, reflects investigators’ claim that Vidro followed Padgett from Port St. Lucie to Riviera Beach and confronted him after he tried to end the encounter. It was not immediately clear Tuesday whether Vidro had entered a plea or retained defense counsel to answer the charges in court. Authorities also had not publicly outlined any additional forensic findings beyond the surveillance evidence and witness accounts already described.
The details that have emerged from witnesses and recordings have given the case a grim human focus. A witness saw the shooting, police said, and surveillance video captured the confrontation. Local television stations also reported on a 911 call from Padgett’s girlfriend after the gunfire, as she begged for help in the FedEx parking area while first responders rushed to the scene. Those reports helped shift the story from an initially unexplained targeted shooting to a clearer account of a road confrontation that police say kept escalating. Padgett’s death also rippled beyond the workplace. His name was later confirmed in court-related reporting, and fundraising for funeral expenses began as family and friends mourned him. For now, investigators say the central picture is clearer than it was on the night of the shooting: a traffic dispute, a long pursuit, a confrontation at a job site and a killing that police say did not have to happen.
The case now stands at the charging stage, with Vidro jailed in Palm Beach County and his next hearing set for May 17. Prosecutors are expected to keep building the timeline through video, witness testimony and other physical evidence as the homicide case moves forward.
Author note: Last updated April 21, 2026.