Photos for Headline Surfer / ABOVE: Edgewater Police Officer David Jewell, 45, was shot to death on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, at the Circle K gas /convenience store in Ormond-by-the-Sea, Florida. He was off-duty and in civilian clothes when he he stopped at the convenience store to buy a hot dog on his way home to his family just down the road. He never made it: Jewell was shot nearly two dozen times by a clerk there armed with a handgun who shot him execution style. The clerk, 24-year-old Eduardo Felipe Labrada Machado, was arrested on the scene by responding sheriff's deputies and later in the evening charged wi5h first-degree murder. The two men knew each other, according to law enforcement sources. LEFT: Volusia Sheriff's Homicide investigators were in scene. It almost all seems surreal, but is all too real for Edgewater Acting Police Chief Charles 'Chas' Geiger and Sheriff Mike Chitwood after the senseless murder of the off-duty cop, David Jewell.
By HENRY FREDERICK / Headline Surfer
ORMOND-BY-THE-SEA, Fla. -- An off-duty Edgewater cop was gunned down in cold blood this afternoon after stopping into the Circle K Convenience store to buy a hot dog.
He was ion his way home to his wife and kids, but his wife ended near the entraceway.The alleged shooter, a clerk at the Circle K, identified as 24-year-old Eduardo Felipe Labrada Machado (DOB: 02/20/2001), is in custody.
The preliminary investigation indicates the victim, David Jewell, 45, walked into the Circle K around 4:08 p.m. The off-duty cop was waiting in line to buy his food when the gunman came up fro,m behind, and fired multiple rounds at close range in an unprovoked attack, the VSO said.
Here is a brief summary of the deadly encounter as described by the VSO: Machado, an employee at the gas station, is shown on surveillance footage walking out of the store soon after the victim walks in. Machado goes to his car to retrieve a jacket, then walks back into the store and pulls out the semi-automatic handgun and shoots Jewell in the head multiple times, killing him almost instantly.
It is believed the victim and Machado knew each other. The motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
A second person initially detained during the investigation, also a Circle K employee, is a witness in the investigation.
The Volusia Sheriff’s Office sent out a written statement via social media sending "condolences to Jewell’s family and the entire Edgewater Police Department. Jewell previously worked as a dispatcher for the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.
“The video is probably something that in 38 years of law enforcement, that I can tell you - it’s unbelievable what you see in that video,” Sheriff Chitwood told TV camera crews on scene.
The Volusia Sheriff’s Office sent out a written statement via social media sending "condolences to Jewell’s family and the entire Edgewater Police Department. Jewell previously worked as a dispatcher for the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.
“The video is probably something that in 38 years of law enforcement, that I can tell you - it’s unbelievable what you see in that video,” Sheriff Chitwood told TV camera crews on scene.
An update was released by the VSO over night with the following key point summarized:
• The alleged gunmman Machado confessed to the murder while in custody, the VSO said, adding, the gunman stated he'd seen Jewell in the store several times, and believed he had an argument with him at some point in the past, However, he was vague on specific details.
• Machado did not indicate he knew the victim was a police officer, or if he had ever seen him in uniform. He did say he'd seen Jewell with a firearm in the past, and was afraid of him but did not elaborate, according to the VSO in a social media press update.
"The defendant said he was having a bad day on his drive to work, and thought about shooting Jewell earlier," the VSO wrote. "When he arrived at work and saw Jewell, he used a handgun he recently purchased to shoot him multiple times at close range. He did not say anything to Jewell prior to shooting him."
• The VSO said investigator Interviews with Machado's family members "revealed he had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder in the past, and had indicated he was hearing voices."
• Those same family members said he was quiet and played a lot of video games. They were not aware of any homicidal threats or anti-law enforcement ideologies on his part. The defendant is a legal resident of the US who has lived here for 10 years and has a green card. No details were released on Machado's home country.
• Macado does not have a criminal history, the VSO said, adding he had one prior encounter with law enforcement in 2023, a weapons complaint about him shooting guns at Tomoka State Park.
" The handgun used in the murder was found inside a jacket in the back seat of the defendant's vehicle after he left the store. The VSO didn't nopt provide any specifics on the type of handgun.
• The homicide investigation is continuing and evidence collected is being processed and analyzed. Machado was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail where he was ordered held without bail, pending a first appearance in the jail courtroom on Tuesday.
• Critical incident stress support is being provided to colleagues of Jewell, a former VSO telecommunicator, and an Edgewater police officer since 2023.
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