An off-duty Edgewater Police officer was shot to death Sept. 15 inside a Circle K gas station in Ormond-by-the-Sea by one of the station’s employees, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.
Besides being a police officer, David Jewell, 45, previously worked as a telecommunicator for the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, according to the Facebook post from the sheriff’s office.
Jewell was gunned down by Eduardo Felipe Labrada Machado, 24, an employee at the Circle K, according to a preliminary investigation, the sheriff’s office stated.
It is believed that Jewell and Machado knew each other, but the motive remains under investigation.
What happened before the Circle K shooting in Ormond-By-The-Sea
Jewell walked into the Circle K about 4:08 p.m. and moments later, Machado walked out, according to surveillance video.
Machado retrieved a jacket from his car and then returned to the Circle K.
Machado then “shoots Jewell in the head multiple times, killing him,” the sheriff’s office states.
“The video is probably something that in 38 years of law enforcement, that I can tell you — it’s unbelievable what you see in that video,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood stated in the Facebook post.
A second Circle K employee initially detained witnessed the shooting, the sheriff’s office stated.
Chitwood: ‘out and out assassination’
Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood said during a press conference that Jewell drove up to the gas station with his father-in-law in a truck, according to a video of the press conference posted by Fox35. Jewell walked into the store to get a hot dog, the sheriff said.
Machado walked out of the store and then walked back in, Chitwood said..
“He walks up behind David and fires multiple shots into David’s head,” Chitwood said. “When David goes to the ground, the gun jams. He stands over top of him, clears the gun, and then probably fires another seven or eight shots. There’s 10 or 12, 15, shots into David’s head.”
Machado then walked out of the store and put his jacket and firearm in the car and changes his shirt. The other clerk was in the restroom and walked out aand assumed their was a “robbery or something” and starts to walk away with Machado, Chitwood said.
Machado knew that Jewell was a police officer, Chitwood said.
“Why this occurred is what we’re trying to figure out,” Chitwood said. “But this was clearly, clearly, the video shows, this was an out and out assassination.”
Chitwood stated that Jewell was in the store less than a minute when Machado walked out to get the gun.
Machado walked back in with the jacket over his arm.
“He pulls the jacket off and holds out his hand from point blank range and just opens fire,” Chitwood said.
Edgewater Police praise fallen officer
The sheriff’s office in its post expressed its condolences to the Edgewater Police Department and Jewell’s family.
Acting Edgewater Police Chief Charles Geiger praised Jewell, according to the post.
“David was a guy that we could rely on for anything, never heard a bad thing about him, and he’s going to be a tremendous loss to the Edgewater Police Department,” Geiger said.
The sheriff’s office stated that Ocean Shore Boulevard was closed from Briggs to San Jose Drive while the shooting is investigated; people are asked to avoid the area.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Off-duty Edgewater Police officer was man shot to death at Circle K near Ormond Beach
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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