Arrest made in murder of active duty Florida Coast Guard member
A suspect has turned himself in for the murder of a Coast Guard member who was fatally shot last week while confronting a suspected car burglar.
Tyree Parker, 22, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Caroline Schollaert, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.
On Aug. 3, Schollaert, who was assigned to the HITRON unit in Jacksonville, called the police to report that her car was being burgled outside her apartment.
While she was still on the phone, Schollaert confronted the suspect, held him at gun point and ordered him to stay there until police arrived. Instead, Parker allegedly fired multiple times at Schollaert, hitting her.
Parker fled the scene and police arrived to find Schollaert with at least one gunshot wound. She died from her injuries.
Police claim Parker was strolling the neighborhood that night testing door handles and had broken into at least eight other cars.
The gun used in the shooting had been stolen from an unlocked vehicle in the same neighborhood 11 days earlier.
“A crime of opportunity in the burglary of a vehicle escalated within seconds resulting in a violent killing of a woman who dedicated her life to serving her country in the United States Coast Guard,” the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
