Inset: Eduardo Labrada Machado (Volusia County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Circle K where Machado is accused of fatally shooting an off-duty police officer (WKMG).
A Florida Circle K worker, 24, has been apprehended after admitting to the fatal shooting of an off-duty cop within the store this week, officials report. Eduardo Machado is accused of surprising the victim from behind and firing multiple shots, admitting to officers that he was having “a bad day.” Authorities announced Machado’s arrest on Monday, charging him with first-degree murder for the killing of 45-year-old Edgewater police officer David Jewell.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office shared announcements and updates about the shooting that occurred around 4:08 p.m. inside the Circle K gas station located in the 2400 block of Ocean Shore Boulevard in Ormond-by-the-Sea, Florida, some 65 miles from Orlando.
Store surveillance captured Machado leaving the premises shortly after Jewell arrived, police say. Outside, Machado reportedly retrieved his jacket from his car, re-entered the store, and shot Jewell in the head multiple times, resulting in his death, according to the police.
Jewell died at the scene.
“The footage is something that after 38 years of policing, I find truly shocking,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood stated, referring to the video capturing the murder.
Jewell, accompanied by his father-in-law, had come to the store “to buy a hot dog” and was at the counter ready to pay when Machado allegedly approached from behind and commenced shooting, Chitwood explained during a press conference. Following Jewell’s fall, Machado’s firearm jammed, as per Chitwood. The footage further shows Machado clearing the jam and firing an additional seven or eight shots into Jewell’s head.
Authorities initially said that Machado and Jewell knew each other, a fact that Machado later confirmed in an interview with investigators.
“The defendant confessed to the murder,” the sheriff’s office wrote. “He stated he’d seen Jewell in the store several times, and believed he had an argument with him at some point in the past.”
Authorities said Machado could not provide any details about the prior argument and did not indicate he knew the victim was a police officer or if he had ever seen him in uniform. Machado allegedly did tell authorities he had previously seen Jewell with a firearm and was “afraid of him.”
The suspect also told investigators that he was in the midst of a “bad day” before he shot Jewell.
“The defendant said he was having a bad day on his drive to work, and thought about shooting Jewell earlier,” the release states. “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.”
Machado does not have a criminal record, but interviews with his family revealed that he had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder in the past and had “indicated he was hearing voices.” The family described him as quiet and said they were unaware of any “homicidal threats or anti-law enforcement ideologies on his part.”
His only prior encounter with law enforcement was in 2023, when there was a weapons complaint about him shooting guns at Tomoka State Park, authorities said.
