YULEE, Fla. – About midnight Wednesday, an ongoing feud turned into gunfire at Freebird Tattoo on Radio Avenue in Yulee, according to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies initially called to the scene found a man believed to own the business lying on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds to this stomach and left wrist. He was taken to UF Health Jacksonville. The extent of his injuries was not released.
Deputies learned a juvenile had arrived at Baptist Hospital in Jacksonville with a gunshot wound, which was apparently related to the same incident.
Witnesses told the Sheriff’s Office that the adult male victim was closing up the tattoo parlor when a vehicle drove into the parking lot and two adults and three juveniles got out. They told deputies the business owner went inside and retrieved a gun and exchanged gunfire with one of the juveniles -- not the one firing the gun -- hitting him in the leg.
The alleged shooter in the vehicle was dropped off at a location in the Fernandina Beach area and the driver took the juvenile who was shot to Baptist Hospital.
Chris Avera, an employee of the tattoo parlor, said the owner of the shop, Chris Vinson, 32, was the man who was shot.
“I think it’s very disrespectful and very wrong for people to come up to a person’s business and shoot them in front of their business in cold blood," Avera said.
The shooting is still under investigation and detectives are looking for two persons of interest who may have information about this incident: Ashley Blair Morgan, 36, and John Michael Kite, 37, both from Fernandina Beach. Anyone who has information of their location is asked to contact detectives at 904-548-4064.