ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A debate between two candidates running for St. Johns County sheriff ended unexpectedly Wednesday evening at the St. Augustine Shriner's Club.
According to video posted online, candidates Chris Strickland and Robert Hardwick were on stage in front of a group of voters, answering their questions.
Strickland was beckoned, and he walked off the stage for a moment.
The video shows him returning to the stage and whispering something to his opponent, Hardwick.
Hardwick told First Coast News that Strickland whispered to him at that moment that he did not want to continue the debate. Hardwick said he asked Strickland to stay.
And then on the video, a noise erupted from outside of the room.
Some people started running toward the hallway.
Meanwhile, on the video you can hear Strickland say, "Everybody just stay calm. Stay still. Everything’s all right. Everybody just calm down. Just calm down." He continued, "Listen, listen. Team Strickland, wrap it up and let’s go. Team Strickland, y'all hear me? Wrap it up and let’s go. We’re not going to be part of this. Let’s go."
Seconds later, Hardwick's voice is heard addressing the crowd, "If you don’t mind, since we’re going to go to the team thing here, Team Hardwick, please stay here so we can answer the questions that were brought forward by you."
According to the St. Augustine Police Chief Barry Fox, who was also in the building and is not running for office, the noise that had some people running out of the room was actually a man yelling at him in the hallway. Fox told First Coast News that minutes earlier, he had emptied the men’s room so that the current Sheriff David Shoar could speak privately with a relative of Strickland’s. Police Chief Fox said the man demanded to get into the men's room, and it was not to use the facilities.
Fox told First Coast News he then suggested the sheriff and the other man in the men's room talk elsewhere.
Another video shows the man -- identified by different sources -- as the person conversing with the sheriff in the men's room telling the undersheriff that "David" and he were "just talking" when a man barged in.
Someone shot another video of Shoar going to his car afterward. The sheriff’s office spokesman said various people were harassing Shoar after the incident. A person in the parking lot said Shoar was not being harassed.
The sheriff can be heard cursing at someone. Video then shows Shoar flipping someone off as he left.
The police chief and the sheriff’s office says no physical altercation took place inside the building.
The sheriff's office told First Coast News no one had filed criminal charges against anyone.