Victim Argued With Man Before Fatal Wawa Shooting At The Jersey Shore: Affidavit

TOMS RIVER, NJ — As the search continues for a Toms River man wanted in a fatal shooting at a Route 37 Wawa, detectives were continuing to piece together details surrounding the slaying.

Douglas C. Cobb, 51, also known as Douglas Green, who goes by the nickname "Bootknock," remains a fugitive as of Monday evening in the killing of Bruce Gress, 42, also of Toms River that happened Friday morning.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed against Cobb, the shooting happened after there was a brief argument between the two men while Gress was at the gas pumps at the Wawa at the corner of Route 37 and Garfield Avenue.

Surveillance video at the Wawa showed Cobb pull into the Wawa at 6:58 a.m. and go inside to get a cup of coffee. His car was out of the vision of cameras.

At 7:12 a.m. Gress pulled into the gas pumps and went inside the Wawa, came back out five minutes later and got into his truck and started to pull away when Cobb is seen pulling up to him, the affidavit said.

A witness, who called 911, told authorities that Cobb pulled up to Gress's pickup truck, with his driver's side door facing Gress's door.

Gress got out of his pickup and stood between the two vehicles arguing with Cobb, who stayed in his car, the witness said.

Gress dropped his phone then picked up and got back into his truck, and the witness told police he heard a "pop" sound, then saw Cobb's car drive away.

The witness then saw Gress's "head drop down and appeared to be slumped over in the driver's seat," the affidavit said.

The cameras could see the confrontation but the shooting was not visible except for a muzzle flash, according to the affidavit.

Police and EMS arrived and Gress was flown to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he was pronounced dead at 8:51 a.m., according to the affidavit.

Authorities interviewed Gress's girlfriend, who did not know of any disputes Gress had with anyone or of anyone that he owed money to. The girlfriend told detectives Gress, who had served time in prison, had been staying out of trouble since they had been dating and she said that while he could get confrontational if someone said something to him, Gress would not get physical.

The girlfriend said Gress had walked his dog before leaving and went to the Wawa every day before work. She did not recognize Cobb's car, the affidavit said.

Cobb was identified by the card he used at the Wawa and from surveillance footage inside the Wawa, according to the affidavit. The videos specifically showed tattoos on his arm that Toms River police detectives recognized from previous interactions with him, as Cobb has an extensive criminal history, the affidavit said.

Detectives tracked down Cobb's phone number and tried to locate it via ping data in an effort to find him, but location data late Friday afternoon showed it in Howell at a random spot along Route 9 and not moving.

The affidavit did not say whether the phone had been recovered.

Authorities conducted a search of Cobb's home on McKinley Avenue in Toms River on Sunday, according to a source, but Cobb was not home, the source said.

Detectives also canvassed the neighborhood for surveillance video, the source said.

Cobb is about 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10 with a muscular build, according to the affidavit, and had a goatee. The affidavit did not describe the tattoos.

He was last seen driving a black 2016 Acura MDX with New Jersey license plate T93YJL, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

He has been charged with murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a weapon, and being a certain person not to possess a weapon, the prosecutor's office said.

Previous reporting:

Fatal Shooting At NJ Wawa Under Investigation, Prosecutor Says

Fugitive ID'd In Fatal Shooting At Wawa In Toms River, Prosecutor Says