I have not seen an “attempted murder” statute, but that does not mean that such a charge could not be made.
Sometimes there are synergies in the law that you have to be familiar with to understand.
Perhaps a lawyer familiar with Florida law could tell us if there is a way to charge someone with “attempted murder” under Florida law.
Maybe it’s just legal semantics at play but attempted murder seems more to the point than the charges stated in the article.
I’m guessing for “attempted murder” there is a higher burden of proof, since you would probably need to prove there was an intent to kill. Since Zimmerman wasn’t hit, the guy could claim “I wasn’t really aiming for him” as a defense and how do you disprove that?
Assault will be an easy charge to make stick.