JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A husband and wife out celebrating a birthday were the victims of a drive-by shooting Friday morning in Northwest Jacksonville that left the man dead and the woman wounded, according to the woman's sister.
Police identified the man as Robert Bryant. The woman with Bryant was his wife, Selina Bryant, according to her sister.
She said the couple had been out celebrating Robert's 37th birthday.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, the couple had just exited Interstate 95 at Kings Road about 3:30 a.m. Friday in a rented Jaguar and were at a stoplight when a second vehicle pulled up next to them and someone began shooting at them before driving off.
The bullets shattered the front passenger window where Robert was sitting.
Selina drove 2 miles to a Shell gas station to look for help in a well-lit area.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said the distance creates a large area that investigators have to search for surveillance video.
“What makes it difficult is that the person was shot 2 miles away from where they stopped,” Smith said. “Now you have a potential 2-mile crime scene.”
Robert and Selina were taken to UF Health Jacksonville, where Robert died. Selina is recovering from her wounds.
Smith said information about where the couple was before the shooting could help find the shooter.
“Were there any other people around? Were there any disputes or arguments or anything like that? They will find out who may have been involved with them, but then again, it could have just been a random act,” Smith said. “Someone could have just gone up to the car and shot.”
Police said the investigation blocked the offramp from I-95 to Kings Road.
"Basically, (we're) going down all of Kings Road between here and 95 to see if we have surveillance and if we can see anything on surveillance," JSO homicide Sgt. Michael Paul said. "We're hoping to get a vehicle description of the other vehicle, which will help us."
Investigators said the shooting could have started as a road-rage incident.
"Her information is going to be critical," Smith said of Selina. "Even if they have surveillance video, they are going to need her information to find out exactly what happened."
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.