Investigators say a workplace argument near Johns Island Parkway ended with one man dead and two others injured.
ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — What began as an argument between co-workers at a SilverLeaf-area construction project ended in a fatal shooting Wednesday, leaving one man dead, two others wounded and county deputies racing down Interstate 95 to arrest a suspect within 27 minutes.
The case drew immediate attention because it combined several public concerns at once: gun violence, worker safety, rapid suburban growth and the county’s first homicide of the new year. Authorities said the suspected shooter, 20-year-old Yovany Lopez Cobo, was later charged with second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder after deputies caught up with him at a truck stop.
Investigators said the shooting happened near Crimson Leaf Drive and Johns Island Parkway, close to the Courtney Groves section of SilverLeaf, where road work has been underway alongside expanding residential development. The sheriff’s office said two men working in the area knew each other and became involved in an argument that escalated. Deputies described the dispute as turning physical before one of the men opened fire. The intended target died at the scene, authorities said, and two other men nearby were hit by gunfire. In the first public briefing after the shooting, Sheriff Rob Hardwick laid out the basic timeline: calls reporting shots fired came in at about 4:26 p.m., witnesses followed the suspect’s path from the scene, and deputies moved quickly to intercept the vehicle before it got far from the county. The arrest came at about 4:53 p.m. at a Love’s truck stop on State Road 206, according to the sheriff.
That sequence turned witness accounts into a central part of the early case. Deputies said people at or near the scene reported that the suspect fled toward I-95 South near International Golf Parkway. The sheriff later said the suspected gunman and his brother were taken into custody together, though authorities had not publicly laid out any allegation against the brother by Thursday. The names of the surviving victims also had not been released, and the sheriff’s office did not immediately say where in the work zone the bystanders were standing when they were shot. Local reports said both were expected to recover. That left several important questions unanswered even after the arrest: what exactly triggered the fight, whether there had been previous tension between the workers, whether the gun was brought to the site earlier in the day and how the two bystanders came to be in the line of fire.
The broader setting helps explain why the case quickly became a major local story. SilverLeaf sits in one of the fastest-growing parts of St. Johns County, where road construction has become a constant feature of daily life as subdivisions spread and traffic routes are expanded. The sheriff’s office had recently celebrated that the county, with a population topping 300,000, recorded no homicides in 2025. Hardwick publicly acknowledged that record while warning against complacency after Wednesday’s killing. “Last year … just caught a lucky year by the grace of God,” he said. The remark underscored the contrast between a recent public-safety milestone and the reality that a sudden burst of violence can still arrive in places more commonly associated with new homes, schools and infrastructure than with murder investigations. In that sense, the crime cut against the county’s image as much as it interrupted a job site.
Now the case moves from a fast-moving manhunt to a slower legal process. Detectives will continue gathering witness statements, reviewing any surveillance or phone video, processing shell casings and mapping the positions of the workers who were present. Prosecutors are expected to build the case around intent, escalation and the risk created for others at the scene. Lopez Cobo was reported to be held without bond in the St. Johns County jail, though future hearings will determine how the charges proceed. Investigators also still have to publicly identify the man who was killed and explain whether labor supervisors or contractors provided statements that help clarify the relationship between the men involved. Those details may become part of probable cause records, future hearings or later sheriff’s office updates as the criminal case develops.
For residents nearby, the scene was a jarring interruption to an ordinary weekday in a neighborhood defined by construction noise and commuter traffic. Instead of paving crews and equipment, the area filled with deputies, flashing lights and yellow tape. The speed of the arrest may have reassured some in the community, but it did not reduce the weight of the event for workers and neighbors who saw the response unfold in real time. Hardwick used the public briefing to emphasize community cooperation, saying residents were willing to call deputies and help officers act quickly. That cooperation, he suggested, kept the case from stretching into a longer search. Even so, the core facts remained stark by day’s end: a disagreement at work turned deadly, a growing community became the site of a homicide investigation, and three families were left dealing with the consequences.
As of Friday, the suspect remained jailed, the victim who died had not been publicly named and investigators were expected to release additional details as the case heads toward its next court date.
Author note: Last updated March 6, 2026.