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Suspect charged in murder of Caroline Schollaert; GoFundMe below
Caroline Schollaert, a 27-year-old Virginia native who served for eight years in the Coast Guard, was shot and killed while attempting to prevent her car from being stolen on August 3. This past Tuesday, a week after the shooting, a suspect was identified and charged.
Caroline Schollaert, a 27-year-old Virginia native who served for eight years in the Coast Guard, was shot and killed while attempting to prevent her car from being stolen on August 3.
Pop Smoke Media chose to exclude the 22-year-old suspect’s name from this article, lest it distract from Schollaert’s own story.
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Schollaert was a member of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron in Jacksonville, Florida. She was also a volunteer firefighter/EMT with the Indian Neck/Pine Orchard Volunteer Fire Co. 9, when she was stationed in New Haven, Connecticut from around 2014 to 2017.
The volunteer fire company she worked with posted about Schollaert on Facebook, that “She was always up for a challenge and ready to learn more. More importantly, she was a great friend to many.”
Schollaert’s father, Patrick Schollaert, told NBC 12 that she also started a support group for women in the Coast Guard.
A rundown of August 3rd
Jacksonville Sherriff’s Office Chief of Investigation T.K. Waters commented on the circumstances of the crime during a press conference.
Waters said, “So what was originally a crime of opportunity, in the burglary of a vehicle, escalated in seconds, resulted in the violent killing of a woman who dedicated her life to serving her country as a petty officer in the United States Coast Guard.”
The sheriff’s office said that while Schollaert was on the phone with dispatcher, in the early hours of August 3, she “confronted the suspect, held him at gunpoint and ordered him to remain until police arrived.”
While awaiting a police response, Schollaert was in a stand-off with the man. The car thief refused to comply with Schollaert’s commands, and shot at her several times with a handgun. The gun used in the shooting was stolen from a separate vehicle in the same neighborhood only 11 days earlier.
The suspect apparently turned himself in and is currently waiting for the case to continue further. He is being charged with second-degree murder.
