Both combatants killed in West Augustine gunfight

West King Street has just been reopened after investigators clear the scene of a double homicide that left two young St Augustine residents dead.

What started out as an online argument between 25-year-old Canyon Charles Molitor and 30-year-old El-roi Ishmael Ashley, intensified into a face-to-face incident of mortal combat.

The two men agreed to meet at King Food Mart on West King Street, according to witnesses. As quickly as they arrived, Molitor and Ashley began a verbal argument in the parking lot. While other uninvolved patrons entered and exited the store, the men each brandished handguns and opened fire on the other.

Police and rescue were called to report the shooting shortly before 10:00 a.m., this morning.

Molitor was found dead at the scene by the time emergency medical personnel arrived, the victim of multiple gunshot wounds.

Witness statements directed deputies to Flagler Hospital where Ashley had been taken in a private vehicle. When law enforcement arrived, the vehicle was spotted in the hospital parking lot and deputies went inside to learn that hospital personnel were administering lifesaving treatment to him. The effort was unsuccessful and Ashley died a short time later while still in the hospital.

The investigation is continuing into the issues surrounding the initial argument, which led to the men meeting at the store, pending forensic examinations, autopsy findings, and additional interviews surrounding the incident.