The shooting outside a Ponte Vedra Walgreens led to an overnight search, a chase into Nassau County and delays for spectators at The Players Championship.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL — A 32-year-old man accused of fatally shooting two people outside a Walgreens near TPC Sawgrass was arrested Saturday morning after an overnight manhunt that crossed a PGA Tour property line and ended more than an hour north in Nassau County, authorities said.
The killings happened late Friday in the middle of one of the region’s busiest sports weekends, forcing law enforcement agencies to search through the night while The Players Championship prepared for its third round nearby. Sheriff’s officials said the suspect and victims knew each other and described the case as a domestic violence situation. By Sunday, the suspect was jailed on two first-degree murder charges and several other felony counts, while investigators still had not publicly identified the two people who were killed.
St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick said deputies were sent to the Walgreens at 860 A1A N., near Palm Valley Road, at about 10:30 p.m. Friday after multiple 911 callers reported gunfire. When deputies arrived, they found two people who had been shot multiple times in the parking lot. Both were taken to hospitals and later died. Hardwick said investigators quickly identified the suspect as Christian Barrios, who had fled before deputies got there. K-9 teams tracked him onto property connected to TPC Sawgrass, the golf complex hosting The Players Championship, about a mile from the shooting scene. Hardwick said Barrios made contact with PGA Tour staff, picked up a radio and moved through the area before leaving. “Families are gonna mourn two people that were shot and killed,” Hardwick said during a briefing, describing the case as another violent crime tied to a man already back in the community.
Authorities said the search then widened beyond Ponte Vedra as officers worked several connected scenes. Investigators said Barrios tried to steal a vehicle while moving through the Sawgrass area and later got into a dark-colored BMW that had been reported stolen during a burglary. Nassau County deputies eventually located the car and used a PIT maneuver to stop it near Callahan after a pursuit, officials said. The BMW crashed into a wooded area, and Barrios ran. Deputies captured him shortly before 8 a.m. Saturday. News4JAX reported that a court ordered him held without bond on the murder counts, while bond was set on the other charges. Officials have said he also faces counts of burglary of an occupied dwelling, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, shooting into a conveyance and grand theft of a motor vehicle. The names, ages and hometowns of the two victims had not been released as of Sunday, and authorities had not publicly explained the exact sequence that led to the gunfire in the Walgreens lot.
The case drew wide attention because of where it unfolded. The Walgreens sits across from the traffic and security footprint of The Players Championship, one of the PGA Tour’s biggest events, and the suspect’s path briefly reached tournament grounds before his arrest. In the hours after the shooting, officers from multiple agencies joined the search, and residents reported seeing helicopters, patrol cars and a heavy police presence around Ponte Vedra. Witness Caleb Mitchell told News4JAX he was walking into the store when he heard six gunshots and then saw officers and aircraft move in. He said the scene left him shaken. Another resident, Joseph Carnley, said people at TPC were already talking about the shooting by the next day and described the violence as far outside what many people expect in Ponte Vedra. The sheriff said none of the people directly involved were from St. Johns County, a point he stressed as the investigation moved from a drugstore parking lot to golf property and then into another county.
The shooting also changed tournament operations, though not the competition itself. The PGA said spectator gates for Saturday’s third round would not open until 9 a.m. because of “operational considerations.” Hospitality areas were delayed until 11 a.m., but tee times remained on schedule, with the first player going out at 8:15 a.m. That meant golfers were already playing while law enforcement finished the manhunt and confirmed the suspect had been taken into custody. By Saturday morning, officials said there was no ongoing threat to the broader community. Still, the case leaves several procedural steps ahead. Prosecutors will need to present the homicide case in court, and investigators still must publicly identify the victims, lay out the evidence behind each charge and explain whether additional forensic testing or witness interviews could bring more counts. The investigation remained open through the weekend, and authorities said more details would be released as records become public and court hearings move forward.
For residents and visitors, the strongest memory may be the collision of two very different scenes: a major golf tournament drawing crowds from around the country and a homicide investigation unfolding just outside its perimeter. Andrew Kirschman told News4JAX that he and his mother heard about the killings after dinner and were “appalled.” Carnley said the shooting was “something we’re not used to around here, especially in Ponte Vedra.” Those reactions reflected a community trying to absorb a burst of violence in a place better known for beach traffic, gated neighborhoods and tournament week crowds. By the end of Saturday, the search that had sent officers through parking lots, fairways, roadways and woods was over, but the unanswered questions remained with the families of the victims and a neighborhood still waiting for a fuller public account of what happened in those minutes before deputies arrived.
The suspect remained in custody Sunday, and investigators had not yet released the victims’ identities. The next major milestone is the first court proceedings on the murder case and any added public records that spell out the evidence timeline.
Author note: Last updated March 16, 2026.