ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A 20-year-old man is being charged with murder and attempted murder after investigators say an argument Wednesday afternoon at a St. Johns County subdivision construction site turned violent.
Yovany Lopez Cobo, who is accused of fatally shooting one man and wounding two others, is currently in the St. Johns County jail. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday.
According to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, the two men who were wounded are expected to recover.
Deputies said the incident began around 4:26 p.m. Wednesday when the sheriff’s office received calls of shots being fired near the Courtney Groves subdivision of SilverLeaf, around Crimson Leaf Drive and Johns Island Parkway.
Deputies say Lopez Cobo and a man he was working with were constructing a new road in the area, similar to Johns Island Parkway, when they got into an argument that turned physical.
According to the sheriff’s office, that’s when Lopez Cobo fired shots at the other man, who died at the scene. His name has not been released.
Two other men nearby were also hit by gunshots and were taken to the hospital, deputies said.
Witnesses told St. Johns County deputies that the shooter, later identified by investigators as Lopez Cobo, left in a vehicle that got onto I-95 South, near International Golf Parkway.
That vehicle was then spotted getting off at a Love’s truck stop on State Road 206.
“We have people in the community that don’t want to tolerate that when they witness violent crime,” Sheriff Rob Hardwick said. “They’re not afraid to call us because they know we’re going to come and do the right thing and hold people accountable.”
Lopez Cobo and his brother were taken into custody at the truck stop around 4:53 p.m., 27 minutes after the first reports of shots being fired.
Lopez Cobo has been charged with second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.
The incident comes almost two months after it was announced that the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office had recorded zero homicides in 2025, which was touted as a notable accomplishment for a county with over 300,000 people.
“Last year... just caught a lucky year by the grace of God,” Hardwick said. “But I know we’re not immune to having violent crime in St. Johns County.”