San Marco business owners and customers are on edge after a violent stabbing

SAN MARCO, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is investigating a violent robbery at Fore Score Golf Tavern in San Marco. It happened Sunday night when someone entered the business and stabbed an employee.

The wife of the employee told News4JAX her husband is a hero. When the suspect entered through the front doors and started harassing people at the hostess stand where a baby was—he jumped in to protect everybody and that’s when she says he was stabbed. And it’s that stabbing which has business owners and shoppers in this area concerned.

“It’s extremely disturbing to me,” Rula Carr, the owner of The Snob consignment store in San Marco, said. She said those were her initial thoughts when she heard of the robbery and stabbing at Fore Score Golf Tavern.

The suspect, who police are not identifying, ran away but was eventually arrested.

Carr said the incident immediately made her reevaluate how she runs her shop. “I’m considering doing possibly more online than I generally do and maybe decrease or decrease the walk in hours,” Carr said.

News4JAX asked a San Marco shopper if it concerned her. “Of course it does. Yeah it’s rough. I feel so terrible for the victim and family,” Shelly said.

Shelly frequently visits the San Marco neighborhood for lunch. She says this type of thing doesn’t usually happen here.

News4JAX looked at a JSO’s crime mapping tool. From July to December there were 86 crimes committed in a half mile area surrounding Fore Score.

The top three were theft, car break-ins and assault. But Carr and other business owners News4JAX spoke to off camera said they hope this latest incident doesn’t stop shoppers from coming out and supporting local businesses.

“We would love people to come to San Marco,” Carr said. “We don’t want to deter people but I think everybody needs to be more alert of their surroundings.”

News4JAX did reach out to the owners of Fore Score to see if they would talk about what happened. They declined saying they are focusing on their employees at this time.


About the Author:

Khalil Maycock joined the News4JAX team in November 2022 after reporting in Des Moines, IA.