Orange Park, Florida



From Jacksonville’s Jacksonville.com of August 28, 2004

1 killed as robbery goes bad



Home invasion suspects encounter card players with guns in hand, too



Three armed men burst into an Orange Park-area home late Wednesday, pointing guns at four men who were playing cards inside.



Several of the card-players responded with gunfire, killing one of the intruders and prompting the two others and a possible accomplice waiting outside to flee, said Clay County Sheriff Scott Lancaster.



Two of the men who may have been responsible for what was apparently a home invasion robbery gone awry were quickly identified after a witness who noticed a "suspicious vehicle" in the neighborhood at the time jotted down its license tag and notified the sheriff's office, Lancaster said.



"We're always talking about partnerships with our community and these partnerships can solve crimes," Lancaster said. "Even before we had begun processing the scene, we got a call from a witness ... and within an hour we had two suspects."



Those two suspects were arrested and charged with attempted home invasion robbery and felony murder. They were being processed into the Clay County Jail early Thursday afternoon and their names had not been released. The third suspect, the possible accomplice who did not enter the house, was still at large.



The name of the intruder who was killed was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.



The names of the people in the house also had not been released. Lancaster said his office and the State Attorney's Office determined they acted in self-defense and would not be charged with the shooting.