A fight between acquaintances inside the restroom of an Orange Park Publix ended with a gun accidentally going off Friday night, sending shoppers streaming out of the store and leading deputies to arrest a 19-year-old on robbery charges. No one was hurt, but the disturbance shut down the busy Blanding Boulevard supermarket for hours while investigators combed the scene.
The chaos unfolded around 8 p.m. at the Publix located at 410 Blanding Blvd., according to News4JAX. Witnesses reported seeing several men running out of the restroom just before the gunshot rang out, and the store emptied out as customers and staff evacuated. The people involved in the altercation reportedly knew each other and had met up inside the restroom before the fight broke out, per the same report.
Zion Jay Simmons, 19, was arrested and charged with robbery in connection with the incident, the outlet reports. It remains unclear exactly what property or money was allegedly taken to trigger that charge, and whether other participants in the restroom confrontation could still face charges of their own is an open question authorities have not yet answered.
Investigators Processed the Scene Into the Night
Crime scene technicians stayed inside the store past 10 p.m. Friday, keeping the supermarket closed for the rest of the night while they processed evidence from the restroom, according to News4JAX. The Clay County Sheriff's Office alerted the community about heightened law enforcement activity near the store as deputies worked the scene, a notification method the agency also used during a separate incident on Loango Road, detailed in Hoodline's earlier report on Lakeside Residents Told to Shelter as Deputies Swarm Loango Road Scene.
The sheriff's office assigned Detective Sebastian Higgins to lead the investigation, according to a Clay County Sheriff's Office post, which asked anyone with information to contact Higgins directly at 904-264-6512 or submit anonymous tips through the SaferWatch app. That app is used by more than 50,000 local residents to receive emergency alerts and relay tips to deputies during active investigations. Simmons was booked into the Clay County Jail on Saturday following his arrest, according to Recently Booked jail records.
What Simmons Could Be Facing
If prosecutors determine a firearm or other deadly weapon was carried during the alleged robbery, Florida Statutes § 812.13 classifies that offense as a first-degree felony punishable by up to life imprisonment or 30 years in state prison, along with fines reaching $10,000, according to The Florida Senate. Separately, Florida law under § 790.15 generally treats knowingly discharging a firearm in a public place as a first-degree misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail, though reckless discharge that endangers bystanders can be elevated to a third-degree felony. Whether prosecutors will add that discharge charge on top of the robbery count is still unknown.
A Familiar Address for Deputies
The Publix sits inside Pine Tree Plaza, a shopping center that draws roughly 1.69 million customer visits a year, according to property data from Regency Centers. It is not the first time deputies have responded to trouble there — in May 2025, the sheriff's office sought the public's help identifying a motorcycle-riding suspect in an assault investigation at the same location, per a Clay County Sheriff's Office Facebook post. Friday's incident adds to a string of recent firearm-related calls along the Blanding Boulevard corridor, including the case detailed in Hoodline's prior story, Orange Park Homeowner Shoots Fleeing Suspect.
The restroom scuffle also echoes a similar disruption at a Florida Publix earlier this month, when a machete brawl broke out inside a Panama City store and led to an arrest in Vernon, as Hoodline previously reported. Countywide, the sheriff's office has been managing a jail population that grew 19% year-over-year to an average of 345 inmates in 2025 — a 38% jump from 2023 — according to the Clay County Sheriff's Office 2025 Annual Report. The same report noted a 57% increase in concealed carry weapon permit renewals last year, with 318 total renewals processed in 2025.
For now, the sheriff's office says the investigation remains active, and detectives are still working to determine exactly what led to the fight and the resulting gunfire inside the restroom. Anyone with information is asked to reach Detective Higgins or submit a tip through the SaferWatch app.
