Melissa Wood has been identified as one of two victims killed in the shooting. A vigil honoring her memory is set to be held at Mickler’s Landing.
ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — One of two victims killed in the deadly shooting near TPC Sawgrass on Friday has been identified.
Melissa Wood, leaves behind two children, and had “just become a grandma barely a year ago,” her brother Jeremy Hackward wrote in a GoFundMe campaign.
St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick said the shooting was “over a domestic violence issue,” and identified the suspect on Saturday as 32-year-old Christian Barrios.
According to his arrest warrant, Barrios allegedly traveled to the Walgreens at 860 A1A North to confront Wood, whom he told investigators he was in a relationship with, and her alleged second boyfriend over “infidelity.”
The warrant states that once there, Barrios “immediately and frantically” exited a vehicle and walked over to another vehicle before gunshots rang out.
Following the shooting, Wood and the other victim were taken to Baptist Beaches Medical Center, where they died, according to the warrant.
Meanwhile, Hardwick said Barrios headed north, crossing Palm Valley Road, and onto the property of TPC Sawgrass.
Hardwick said deputies believed Barrios had “multiple contacts with people that were just simply inside the tour area,” where The Players Championship was being played.
The sheriff said that several units then “saturated” the area, and later learned that a dark-colored BMW had been stolen.
Once the vehicle’s tag was “hot-listed,” Hardwick said deputies in Nassau County spotted the vehicle near Callahan, as Barrios was later taken into custody early Saturday morning.
According to his warrant, Barrios faces charges of first-degree murder (two counts), shooting into an occupied conveyance, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, burglary to an occupied dwelling and grand theft of a motor vehicle over $20,000 and less than $100,000.
Hackward, in the GoFundMe campaign, calls Barrios an “insecure, jealous ex-boyfriend.”
Wood’s estranged husband, Jeff Wood, told First Coast News a vigil is being held for Melissa on Friday, March 20. He said the community is invited to attend, saying “the community needs closure from this.”
The vigil will be held at Mickler’s Landing at 6 p.m.
