JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville police are looking for a man driving a white car in connection with the shooting death of a woman at a fast food restaurant in Baymeadows.
The woman, identified by family members on social media as Jamie Roque, 32, was in the process of ordering breakfast Friday morning in the drive-thru line of the McDonald's restaurant on Baymeadows Road between Interstate 95 and Philips Highway when a man approached and shot her, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Police called about 8:30 a.m. found Roque in her car with at least one gunshot wound. She was transported to Memorial Hospital, where she died less than an hour later.
Detectives said several witnesses reported seeing a man believed to be involved was seen leaving, driving east on Baymeadows in a four-door white car. The gunman was described as a heavy-set black man with low hair.
Investigators said the woman and the gunman may have known each other, but it was too early to say for sure.
Crime scene investigators are going through the car and reviewing surveillance video to help them identify the gunman.
"With as busy traffic as there is around here, maybe some witnesses who saw something left, we really would love them to call JSO and tell us what they saw," JSO Detective Marc Musser said.
A woman who told News4Jax she frequently picks up breakfast at that McDonald's said she had just left minutes before the shooting.
"I just can't believe I was that close to that situation and, you know, I feel for the family; I pray for the family," said the woman, who did not want to give her name. "I'm just scared because stuff is happening everywhere. At our kids' schools; at work."
Sophia Raya works at JoJo Lashes, in the same shopping center. That business and others couldn't open because the parking lot was a crime scene.
The victim's car, with what appeared to be a bullet hole and shattered glass in the driver’s-side window, was towed away just after noon.
"That kind of hurt our business because our rush usually comes in at 10 a.m., we didn’t start until 12," Raya said.
The McDonald's itself didn't reopen until 2 p.m. A couple the restaurant's employees were seen crying after they learned that the woman died. They said they were terrified and didn’t want to go back to work.
Jose Hernandez, owner of the McDonald’s franchise, released a statement late Friday:
Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family and loved ones. We are working with law enforcement as part of this ongoing investigation. Our biggest priority is always the safety and well-being of our employees and customers at our restaurants.”
A McDonald's employee escorting a manager out of the restaurant with a bank deposit was shot and killed in February 2010. Police said Raynold Orelus was shot when he struggled over the gun with Nesta Walker, who was later convicted of robbery and first-degree murder.
Last Thursday, a man was shot outside the Days Inn hotel on Dix Ellis Trail, less than a mile from the McDonalds. A transgender woman was shot and killed in June at the Quality Inn, also on Dix Ellis Trail. There have not been arrests in either of those cases, although police have released a sketch of the man they are looking for in the Quality Inn slaying.
There is no indication that either recent incident is connected to Friday's killing at McDonald's.