A man in his 20s is hospitalized with life-threatening injuries following a shooting Sunday afternoon, December 22, 2024, at a Wendy’s on New Kings Road in Northwest Jacksonville, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO).
The victim was meeting with one of the suspects in the restaurant’s parking lot around 2:15 p.m. when a second suspect approached his vehicle and shot him in the upper chest. The suspects fled the scene in a white Kia sedan, leading law enforcement on a multi-county pursuit from Jacksonville into Nassau County and eventually Charlton County, Georgia.
The vehicle was later found abandoned near President Road in Folkston, Georgia. Despite deploying K-9 units and a bloodhound, Charlton County authorities were unable to locate the suspects. A JSO helicopter maintained visual contact with the suspect vehicle until it was abandoned.
JSO Crime Scene officers have secured the vehicle for forensic analysis, including DNA and fingerprint evidence. Investigators are interviewing persons of interest and continuing their efforts to identify and locate the three suspects.