JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One man died and two others were wounded in a triple shooting early Friday morning in the Magnolia Gardens area of Northwest Jacksonville, police said.
ShotSpotter alerted the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to gunfire just after 2 a.m. on Verbena Road, off West 45th Street and south of Edgewood Avenue. Officers headed to the area saw a car speeding away and pulled it over near the intersection of 15th and Teal streets.
Of four people inside, three of them had been shot. All three were taken to UF Health Jacksonville, where one of them died. The other two were treated and released, police said.
Police said numerous shell casings were found on Verbena Road but they're still trying to tie everything together to learn if that is where the victims were shot.
Nearly 10 hours after the shootings, evidence technicians were still processing both crime scenes. Bullet holes were visible in the windshield of the car. There appeared to be a handgun on the ground nearby.
A SWAT team unit and a JSO K-9 unit were seen in the area.
All three victims were male, but police did not have approximate ages for them.
Police said the fourth person in the vehicle was taken downtown for questioning as the investigation continues. They are asking family and friends of the victims to come forward if they have any information about the shooting.
News4Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson said the pattern of shell casings says a lot about the shootings.
"These were serious shooters. They intended to kill the target they were trying to shoot," Jefferson said. "And then it spread out all over the place, and there’s always a concern for innocent casualties."
Anyone who can help with the investigation is asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
Shootings in hot spot for shootings in Jacksonville
The Friday morning shooting is in the center of the area the city's new Cure Violence program is targeting. It is only a half mile from Abelia Road, where two men were shot outside a home Wednesday.
The man heading up that initiative said they're talking with those involved to try and learn how to keep this from happening in the future.
"It’s about being able to understand what precipitated the incident, how we best can become involved to make sure, God help us, we can put it to an end," Paul Tutwiler said. "We believe that the most recent incident has to be the last."
Residents are certainly tired of the violence. Darrell Burgess heard the gunfire and called 911.
"I ran up and told the police what I saw," Burgess said. "I’m disappointed that there’s this much gunfire going on in the neighborhood and we don’t have a steady police presence here."
