JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Homicide detectives investigating the suspicious death of a 17-year-old male early Tuesday morning in Northwest Jacksonville were told by neighbors they heard several gunshots about 9:30 p.m. Monday.
Jacksonville police were called to Fourth Street and Clyde Drive just before 7 a.m. after children headed to a school bus stop found the body of Errin Brooks (pictured below) in the back yard of a house near that intersection. Fire-Rescue personnel who also responded pronounced Brooks dead.
Brooks' cause of death will be determined by the Medical Examiner, but police suspect foul play.
A neighbor told Channel 4 her daughter told her she saw the body on the way to school and the girl's friend called police.
"I asked the little boy who I was walking with to the bus stop to come with me to see if it was a real body," said the 12-year-old girl who was walking with a friend. "We seen that it was not breathing. It was shot on his side and a hole in his shirt."
Alisha Oliver's daughter had the FCAT this week and also saw the body on her way to school.
"I've never seen her like that before, and she never witnessed anything like that," Oliver said. "So it was just unbelievable. She was very scared."
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Sgt. T.K. Water said the gunshots were not reported when they were heard Monday night, and it's unclear if they're connected to the death.
"If I heard gunshots, I'd call police," Waters said.
The area where the shooting happened is just blocks away from where the high-profile murder of 8-year-old Dreshawna Davis took place in 2006. Meanwhile, people who live in the area say they hear gunshots too often around there and they want all of the crime to stop.
"Honestly, in my opinion, it's going to go on regardless," resident Victor Parker said. "I mean, you can try and put as much law enforcement as you can, but you know, there's only so much you can do."
Police said they have made no arrests and have no suspect information as they are just beginning to try and piece together what happened.