The suspect who reportedly shot and killed a man at a Baldwin gas station prior to getting into a shootout with police on Interstate 10 and US-301 Thursday morning was recently fired from the same trucking company as the victim, sources close to the situation told First Coast News.
The man who died was identified by his wife as Todd Phillips. He was a safety inspector of the same trucking company, Rinaudo Enterprises, Inc., as the suspect, they said.
Phillips, along with his colleague, Joe Parcell, were retrieving the suspect's company truck at the Pilot gas station, 1050 US-301 South, around 7 a.m. when the shooting occurred, sources said.
A witness told First Coast News that he heard two people arguing followed by gunfire.
When the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office arrived, they found Phillips dead with gunshot wounds, his wife said. Parcell was also injured and transported to UF Health by helicopter, his niece said.
JSO's chief of investigations, T.K. Waters, said the suspect took off in a semi-truck toward I-10. When police searched the area, they found him parked on the side of the eastbound lanes about a mile away from the first shooting.
When officers tried to approach the suspect, he began firing at officers and struck their patrol vehicles. Three officers fired back and injured the suspect, Waters said.
The suspect was transported to the hospital. Police haven't released his information.
No police officers were injured.