Oliver Lopez showed up to the Sanctuary Walk apartment complex on East 21st Street in Jacksonville, Florida, around 10 p.m. on a Tuesday. He was there to do his job. Lopez owned and operated Oliver Towing, a business he had built over more than two years, and that night he had a repossession to complete. He never made it home.
According to Jacksonville police, a dispute broke out between Lopez and the owner of the vehicle he had come to repossess. Before the situation could de-escalate, a second man emerged from one of the apartments and fired multiple shots at Lopez. Emergency responders transported him to a nearby hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
The shooter fled the scene immediately after the shooting. As of the time of reporting, he remains at large. Investigators have not released a physical description of the suspect and have not confirmed whether the man who opened fire had any direct connection to the repossession dispute or to the vehicle’s owner.
What investigators know about the Oliver Lopez shooting
The Sanctuary Walk apartment complex sits just east of Phoenix Avenue on East 21st Street, in a residential area of Jacksonville. Lopez arrived at the location at approximately 10 p.m., which is a common window for repossession work. Many tow operators conduct vehicle recoveries late at night precisely to reduce the chance of a confrontation with an owner who might resist…