A Jacksonville sheriff’s sergeant shot and killed a man who approached him at police stop station and then fired a shot at him for unknown reasons near the farmers market on Beaver Street, according to Chief Michael Paul.
He said it happened about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, in the 1700 block of West Beaver near Stockton Street. The sergeant was parked at the station where officers can do paperwork when the man walked up to his vehicle, so he got out and they had a brief interaction.
“The individual then pulls out a handgun and starts walking backwards, which in turn causes the sergeant to produce his handgun and point it at the suspect,” Paul said. “The suspect then fires a shot at the sergeant, missing him, striking the building that’s behind the sergeant, which is the stop station. The sergeant then fires his handgun and strikes the suspect.”
He was treated and taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The suspect was 45-year-old Christopher Wayne Ford, who the chief said had a mental health issue requiring a Baker Act evaluation in February. However, he had no local criminal record. Property records show he purchased a home in the 7700 block of Mount Ranier Drive near Baymeadows Road in 2020.
Paul could not explain why the man pulled his gun on the sergeant and said it all happened very fast. This was officer’s second police shooting. His name is temporarily being withheld under a revised law.
The shooting marks the 13th suspect killed or wounded by Jacksonville police this year equaling the number at the same time in 2025, according to Times-Union records. Eight have died this year, compared to nine in 2025. That year ended with 11 total deaths among 17 police shootings.
(This story has been updated with a photo of the gun.)
Scott Butler has been an editor/reporter specializing in public safety coverage for 26 years with The Florida Times-Union. He can be reached at sbutler@jacksonville.com.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: JSO: Man shoots at officer outside stop station and is shot and killed
Reporting by Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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By Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
