Police still searching for suspects who killed Jacksonville man, held woman hostage in Arlington

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The search is on for two suspects who are accused of killing a young man in Arlington and holding another woman hostage in her own home Wednesday.

Family told Action News Jax their brother, Charles McCormick Jr., was shot and killed outside of Express Employment Professionals after applying for a new job.

McCormick leaves behind four sisters, a mother, a grandmother and a niece he thought of as his own daughter. They told Action News Jax he was an aspiring rapper in Jacksonville, and they’re crushed by his loss.

Police put an Arlington neighborhood on lockdown as they searched for the suspects Wednesday. An off-duty officer chased them to Townsend Boulevard, but the suspects crashed the stolen car and ran off.

Home surveillance shows the two suspects running through neighbors’ yard and hopping a fence on Townsend Boulevard.

A woman told Action News Jax reporter Elizabeth Pace the two men broke into her home and held her hostage for more than an hour.

She asked not to be identified for her safety but said she is doing better since the attack. She told Pace the men forced her to the ground, changed into her husband’s clothes, ate her food and used her bathroom.

“She couldn’t call, she couldn’t say anything, she couldn’t scream loud, enough even though the police were right there four houses down,” her friend, Kim, said.

A JSO officer was guarding the stolen car down the block as the woman was being held hostage. Pace led her to the officer to report the crime.

“The real evidence was in her house and if they would have went door to door they would’ve found them within the hour,” Kim said. “It was over an hour she was there and they were there.”

JSO detectives later came to this woman’s home to get her statement, suspect information and collect DNA samples.

She said she’s now hopeful police are close to catching the suspects.

“She’s resilient,” Kim said. “You never think anything like that going to happen to you, especially her.”

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Charles McCormick 1 Charles McCormick, 23, was shot and killed in Arlington on Wednesday.

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