YULEE, Fla. -- When Tom Schadowsky, 46, didn't return from work Wednesday, his family feared the worst.
His wife, Rebecca, and their 21-year-old daughter then saw what Action News reported on the late newscast about a man shot and killed at the wheel of his pickup truck near a Northside Gate gas station that their family frequents.
Brittney Schadowsky told Action News, "We had been looking for my dad for quite some time and there was no other explanation. So we kind of knew from that point."
Police say Schadowsky, a self-employed handyman, was shot while driving his truck on Dunn Avenue on Wednesday night. Homicide investigators believe it was a road rage incident that may have begun with an argument at the Gate gas station near FSCJ's North Campus.
Rebecca Schadowsky said, "We live in an ugly world where people are weak and their first line of defense is to pull out a gun and shoot somebody over nothing."Schadowsky told Action News her husband never carried a weapon, only tools for his job.
"He worked really hard to provide for this family my whole life," said daughter Brittney.
"As much tragedy as I'm dealing with now, I feel like one of the luckiest girls in the world," said Rebecca, "Because I was loved for 23 years by an incredible person."
The victim's family is grieving for this hardworking husband and father while trying not to concentrate on the gunman they call a "coward."
"I don't have anything to say to the man who shot my husband. He's nothing to me. He's not worth my breath," said Rebecca, "I believe in JSO and I believe in God. He's going to have to answer to both of them eventually."
Investigators are searching for the shooter's vehicle described as a burnt orange SUV with a FAMU license plate.
