JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The search for a man wanted on two counts of murder after four people were shot in Middleburg early Monday is focused along the Clay-Duval county border after a man matching his description held up a gas station on Normandy Boulevard on Tuesday night and was spotted by a homeowner and school bus driver early Wednesday morning.
Christopher Scott Kilgore's parents' vehicle was found Wednesday morning two miles north of the Kangaroo gas station that was robbed, and police said they heard from a resident who saw the man at her front door late Tuesday night.
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"She was just very terrified, because, at the time, her husband was not home," Larry Davis, principal of Clay Hill Elementary, was told by a woman on his staff. "(Her husband) drove up right when the person was knocking on the door, and then (the man) took off into the woods."
Davis also said a bus driver picking up children Wednesday morning spotted a man matching Kilgore's description.
Another man told police he was leaving his house to take his kids to school Wednesday morning when he was approached by Kilgore. When Kilgore saw that the homeowner had a gun, Kilgore took off into the woods, leaving his parents' SUV behind.
Deputies said Kilgore should be considered armed and dangerous and urge residents to stay indoors with their doors locked and garage doors closed and to call 911 immediately if they see Kilgore and not try and confront him.
"We have had a couple of reports of people with guns, and it pulls deputies off of the search area to check that out," Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said Wednesday morning. "If someone's out with a gun, we don't know whether they're the suspect or the homeowner, so I would encourage people to stay in their homes and don't try to confront anybody."
Some residents told Channel 4 that while they trust police, they know they can't be everywhere all the time.
"We're out here by ourselves so ... we do what we have to to be safe," Maxville resident Dan Lanier told Channel 4.
Clay Hill and Wilkinson elementary schools -- both on State Road 218 -- were placed on lock down, not because the children are in any danger, but because of police activity in the area.
Clay County schools said that because County Road 217 and Longbranch Road are closed by police activity, children who normally ride the bus to those areas will be kept at school until their parents or guardians arrive to pick them up.
Jacksonville police advise parents of students with bus stops west of the 10100 block of Normandy Boulevard that their children will be held at Baldwin Middle/Senior High School, 291 Mill Street.
The First Baptist Church of Maxville canceled Wednesday evening services due to the manhunt.
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Several agencies have searched for Kilgore, 33, since deputies found four people shot on his family's rural Middleburg property before dawn on Monday.
Kilgore's younger brother, Raymond, and his friend, James Coody, were killed, and Kilgore's parents were both seriously injured.
Channel 4 was told a man matching Kilgore's description and armed with a shotgun and knife entered the convenience store near the Clay-Duval county border just before 9 p.m. Tuesday. A witness said the gunman ordered people in the store to "get in the bathroom or you are going to die," put a gun to a clerk's head, grabbed cash, cigarettes and candy, then took off.
"The fact that he's emerged out of the woods and conducted an armed robbery at least let us know he's still in the area," Beseler said.
The robber was driving a blue Chevy Trailblazer, possibly the same vehicle investigators believe Kilgore drove away from Monday's homicide scene. That SUV was found abandoned early Wednesday two miles from the store.
Beseler said he didn't know how many people were involved in the search, but praised the level of cooperation between the agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service and the Florida Game and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He said even St. Johns County had sent their helicopter to assist in the search.
"We hope that this is resolved quickly, but we're prepared for the long haul," Beseler said.