- December 4, 2025
An off-duty Edgewater police officer was shot and killed in an Ormond-by-the-Sea gas station on Monday, Sept. 15.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office reports that the victim, 45-year-old David Jewell had walked into the Circle K gas station at 2460 Ocean Shore Blvd. around 4:08 p.m. The shooter, identified as 24-year-old Eduardo Machado, was an employee at the gas station. He was seen on surveillance footage exiting the store soon after Jewell walked in, going to his ca to retrieve a jacket and then returning to the store, where he shot Jewell in the head multiple times.
“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 Mike Chitwood said.
Jewell previously worked for VSO as a telecommunicator.
“David was a guy that we could rely on for anything, never heard a bad thing about him, and he’s going to be a tremendous loss to the Edgewater Police Department,” Acting Edgewater Police Chief Charles Geiger said in a media briefing at the scene.
VSO reports that Machado told deputies he'd seen Jewell in the store several times and believed he had an argument with him in the past.
"He couldn't provide any details about the argument," a VSO Facebook post stated. "He 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."
Machado said he was having a "bad day on his drive to work," according to VSO, and thought about shooting Jewell earlier. Upon seeing him, he told deputies he used a handgun he recently purchased to shoot him multiple times at close range, saying nothing to Jewell beforehand.
VSO reported that interview's with Machado's family members revealed Machado had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder in the past and he had indicated "he was hearing voices." Family members, who described him as quiet and someone who played a lot of video games, said they weren't aware of any homicidal threats or anti-law enforcement ideologies held by Machado, a legal U.S. resident.
Machado had no criminal history, other than one encounter with law enforcement in 2023 about him shooting guns inside Tomoka State Park.
