Fernandina Beach grocery store manager attempts to rob car with children inside, gunfire reported
Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper held a briefing on Mon., Oct. 9 to discuss an armed carjacking that involved a mother and her son and daughter.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
Sheriff Leeper described a terrifying situation that took place on Fri., Oct. 6 outside a Fernandina Harris Teeter grocery store.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
According to a Nassau County Sheriff’s arrest report, the mother of two children left her car to go inside the grocery store to buy a bottle of water. She left both her children inside the vehicle with the doors locked.
The arrest report said that as she entered the store, she noticed a person lingering in the parking lot as she was in the checkout line.
At this time, her son called letting his mother know that the alarm was going off in the car. As she left the store, she told deputies that a suspect was sitting in the driver’s seat of her vehicle. She then heard a gunshot go off and ran to the vehicle, entered the rear passenger side, and reached over to unbuckle her daughter.
Read: ‘Never be missed;’ Man shot in the face outside his Hilliard home, girlfriend arrested
After getting her daughter out of the vehicle, all three ran to safety inside the store.
During an interview with the mother’s son, he told deputies that the suspect asked if he was okay when the vehicle’s alarm system was going off.
“He said the suspect entered their vehicle and sat in the driver’s seat,” the arrest report stated. “Fearing for his and his sister’s safety, he attempted to place the suspect in a headlock. The suspect then pulled a firearm from his waist and discharged it.”
The son took cover behind the driver’s seat until his mother came over to the vehicle and removed his sister from the back seat.
Sheriff Leeper said that the suspect was identified as Michael Hooper, the grocery store manager for Harris Teeter. Hooper was said to have clocked in to work around 9:20 p.m. on Oct. 6. He was captured on security cameras leaving the store around the time the victim pulled into the parking lot.
“The suspect can be seen walking around the vehicle and then approaching [redacted] door,” the arrest report stated. “The footage then shows the suspect entering the driver’s side of the vehicle while the children are still inside.”
Read: Nassau County Sheriff’s Office stops marsh bandits with help from community
Surveillance video captured Hooper fleeing the scene towards South Fletcher Ave. During a search of the suspect’s vehicle in the grocery store parking lot, deputies saw an empty holster lying on the front passenger seat. A co-worker also told authorities that the suspect is known to carry a .45 caliber handgun.
Crime scene detectives processed the victim’s vehicle where they located a Taurus .45 caliber handgun. They also located a spent shell casing.
The arrest report noted that “The vehicle was observed to have a projectile hole that exited the driver-side windshield and struck a light pole.”
The following day, NCSO said that Mr. Hooper’s mother called deputies to report that her son wanted to turn himself in. The suspect was taken into custody a short time afterward.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Hooper was transported to the Nassau County Jail and Detention Center and was charged with committing carjacking with a firearm and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
