Dirty looks escalated to a fatal shooting in Arlington, and now the gunman has been arrested.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has been investigating a shooting on Holly Bell Drive in Arlington since December 30th. That's when 22-year-old Quinton Gray was taken to the hospital with a life-threatening shot to the head, and another person in his car suffered minor injuries when they crashed following the shooting.
JSO now says this all started at a convenience store. Gray and the other person in his car pulled up and were sitting in the parking lot.
“The suspect, who they didn’t know, came walking past their vehicle and was staring them down, giving them mean looks,” says JSO Lieutenant Steve Gallaher.
Gallaher says all three “exchanged words”, but there was no physical altercation at that time and they went their separate ways. Gray was later driving down Holly Bell Drive when they spotted the suspect- now identified as 21-year-old Charles Smith III- and he saw them.
“The suspect pulled out a handgun and stated firing at the car, and then the crash occurred,” Gallaher says.
Witnesses spotted the suspect run toward nearby apartments and get in a car. Police were soon able to find that car and pulled it over with two people and a gun inside. Those people told JSO the gun belonged to someone they had just dropped off, and they identified that person as “Charles”. Witnesses- including the second person who was in the car that was shot at- positively identified the suspect as Smith.
Gray died of his injury on January 5th. On January 7th, Smith was picked up at a relative's home. He has been arrested for murder, attempted murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and more.