On a calm Thursday afternoon in Waynesboro, Georgia, the routine of grabbing a snack or drink at the station took a tragic turn. At around noon, inside the convenience store at the Sunoco station at 740 E. 7th Street, a verbal disagreement between the young man and others escalated into fatal gunfire. The victim, 23-year-old Kennarius Roshawn McBride, was struck and later died at the nearby hospital.
Responding officers from the Burke County Sheriff’s Office and the Waynesboro Police Department arrived on scene shortly after the shooting. McBride was rushed to Burke Medical Center where, despite medical efforts, his life could not be saved. The suddenness of the event left many in the town in disbelief.
Investigators say the sequence began inside the store and spilled outside as tensions rose. Review of surveillance footage identified 26-year-old Jalen Floyd Cox as the suspect in the shooting. Cox later turned himself in at the Burke County Detention Center. While arrest has been made, police stress the probe is still in progress.
The ripple effect of that moment was felt through the local schools. At 12:16 p.m., a precautionary soft lockdown was initiated across the district—including the high school, middle school, and primary school—as administrators and officers secured the campuses. The lockdown ended at 12:36 p.m., allowing students and staff to gradually return to normal. The district reiterated that the measure was precautionary, and no threat to the schools was detected.
Beyond procedural detail, there’s the human story: Kennarius—described by friends and neighbors as lively, full of potential, someone who did not deserve a date on the calendar that ended his life. His family is now making sense of grief where once there was joy, and the Waynesboro community is rallying around them—offering meals, prayers, and presence. The absence he leaves behind is heavy. The chance conversations at the station, the smiles in the neighborhood, they all feel altered now.
For the police and sheriff’s office, this remains a working investigation. They urge anyone who witnessed the incident, who was near the station at the time, or who has video or information to come forward. You can reach Investigator Faith Cupp at (706) 526-5013, the Waynesboro Police Department at (706) 554-8029, or Burke County Dispatch at (706) 554-2133. Anonymous tips are also welcome.
As the sun set on that quiet Thursday evening, the gas station and its storefront lights remained unchanged—but lives were. The community of Waynesboro is left to reckon with how close ordinary moments sit to heartbreak. Kennarius’s passing is a painful reminder of life’s two-edged fragility, and how one ordinary stop at a convenience store can become the pivot point for a town’s sorrow.
