Residents and tournament visitors described shock after a late-night killing triggered a manhunt near TPC Sawgrass.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — A double killing outside a Walgreens near The Players Championship left residents shaken and forced security changes at TPC Sawgrass on Saturday, as deputies searched overnight for a suspect later arrested in Nassau County.
St. Johns County deputies said the shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. Friday in the parking lot of the Walgreens at Palm Valley Road, directly across from the area hosting The Players. Sheriff Rob Hardwick said two people were shot multiple times and later died at hospitals. Investigators identified the suspect as Christian Barrios, 32, and said the violence stemmed from a domestic dispute involving people who knew one another.
What happened next pushed the case beyond a single crime scene. Deputies said K-9 teams tracked the suspect onto PGA Tour property at TPC Sawgrass, where he briefly encountered staff and handled a radio before leaving. The search unfolded as players, workers, residents and visitors were converging on one of the region’s biggest annual events. Because of the law enforcement response, tournament gates did not open to spectators until 9 a.m., and hospitality venues opened at 11 a.m., though the third round itself started on schedule.
That overlap between a homicide investigation and a major golf weekend gave the story unusual visibility, but people in the area focused less on the tournament delay than on the violence itself. In follow-up reporting by News4JAX, witnesses and residents described disbelief that a shooting with two deaths had happened in Ponte Vedra. One witness said he heard six gunshots as he was going into the store. Another resident said he and his mother were “appalled” after hearing what had happened.
Residents told local reporters that deadly violence of this kind is rare in the community, especially so close to a high-profile event. Their comments reflected the mood that settled over the area after patrol vehicles, helicopters and the all-night search moved through a place better known for golf traffic than for a homicide investigation. Officials later said there was no longer a threat to the public, but the shock carried into Saturday as families, neighbors and tournament visitors tried to make sense of the scene.
Authorities said the manhunt ended in Nassau County after investigators linked the suspect to a dark-colored BMW reported stolen during a burglary. Deputies there used a PIT maneuver, the vehicle crashed into a wooded area near Callahan, and the suspect was captured shortly before 8 a.m. Saturday after running from the wreck, according to law enforcement accounts carried by News4JAX and AP.
Barrios now faces two counts of first-degree murder along with burglary of an occupied dwelling, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, shooting into a conveyance and grand theft of a motor vehicle. Follow-up local reporting said he was ordered held without bond on the murder counts. Investigators had not, in the reports reviewed, publicly identified the two people who were killed or laid out a detailed timeline of the confrontation before gunfire erupted.
By Sunday, the immediate crisis had ended, but key parts of the case remained unresolved in public. Investigators still had more evidence to process, including the suspect’s movements through the tournament area and the circumstances tied to the reported burglary and stolen car. The next steps are likely to include court appearances, possible release of victim identities and a fuller explanation from law enforcement about the domestic violence history behind the shooting.
Author note: Last updated March 15, 2026.