Cops Believe Microsoft Exec Was Shot in Targeted Killing

Jared Bridegan was shot on Florida road in front of 2-year-old daughter
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 14, 2022 9:25 AM CDT
Reward Upped in 'Targeted Killing' of Microsoft Exec
Police released this photo of Jared Bridegan, a manager of user experience at Microsoft.   (Jacksonville Beach Police Department)

Almost two months after a Microsoft exec in Florida was gunned down in what police said appeared to be a targeted killing, no arrests have been made and the reward for information has been upped to $30,000. Police say Jared Bridegan, 33, was gunned down in front of his 2-year-old daughter in Jacksonville Beach on Feb. 16, News4Jax reports. He was on his way home to wife Kirsten Bridegan and their baby daughter after dropping off his 9-year-old twins from a previous marriage with their mother. Investigators believe Bridegan was shot by the side of the road in a wooded area around 8pm after he got out of his vehicle to deal with a tire that had apparently been placed in the middle of the road.

Investigators suspect the tire was left in the one-way road to lure Bridegan out of his black Volkswagen Atlas. The Jacksonville Beach Police Department has been working with agencies including the ATF, the FBI, and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. Detectives say they are looking for an older model blue Ford F-150 that was apparently involved in the murder. "Jacksonville Beach is a safe community and a murder of this nature is highly unusual," spokeswoman Sgt. Tonya Tator says.

The murder was "pure cowardice and evil," Kirsten Bridegan tells Fox. She says witnessing the killing has taken a heavy toll on 2-year-old Bexley. "She talks about the sound a lot. She says, 'I had to cover my ears,'" Kirsten says. "When she talks about what happened she calls it 'The boom.’ She says, 'Boom! Boom! Boom! Daddy on the ground.'" She says Bexley misses her older siblings as well as her father. She didn't discuss Bridegan's relationship with his ex-wife, but a source tells Fox it was strained and the 9-year-old twins were invited to their father's funeral but didn't attend. (More Florida stories.)

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