JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police on Monday identified the two young men accused in a string of armed robberies that led to an officer-involved shooting over the weekend.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said it was conducting an undercover investigation on Saturday night when officers noticed 18-year-old Ejon Syree Davis and 22-year-old Elijah Scott Davis, who matched the description of the suspects, in Northwest Jacksonville. Police confirmed to News4Jax that the two are brothers.
Chief of Investigations T.K. Waters said the investigation was in response to individual robberies in which a man using the name Mike Brown 23 lured victims through the online marketplace letgo and others.
The officers were parked near the intersection of Lem Turner Road and Soutel Drive when Ejon Davis and Elijah Davis, who was seen holding something in his hand in his front waistband area, approached them, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release Monday.
As the officers got out of their vehicle, they identified themselves while giving verbal commands for the two men to get on the ground. During the encounter, Ejon Davis complied with the commands and was taken into custody. Police said he had a loaded firearm in his possession at the time he was detained.
Elijah Davis did not comply with the commands and ran off, the Sheriff's Office said. Officer K.L. Semones chased him for a short distance, so he was out of the sight of the other officers, but he could be heard yelling, "gun," the Sheriff's Office said.
Semones then fired his agency-issued rifle at Elijah Davis, striking him multiple times, police said. Elijah Davis was taken to UF Health hospital, where he remained in stable condition as of late Monday afternoon.
Waters said a .38-caliber revolver and .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun were seized from the suspects.
No officers were injured. Semones, a three-year veteran of the agency, has two actions in his personnel file. He has twice gotten formal counseling -- once for a traffic crash that was his fault and once for failure to take appropriate actions.
According to the Sheriff's Office, detectives with the robbery unit believe the suspects could have been involved in as many as eight armed robberies in the 48 hours before the officer-involved shooting.
Though the investigation continues into at least nine reported armed robberies, police said that the suspects have been arrested on multiple charges.
Ejon Davis is charged with three counts of armed robbery, burglary and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Elijah Davis is charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer. Because he's still in the hospital, there is no booking photo available of him.
A woman, who did not wish to be identified, told News4Jax that she and her fiance were robbed by the two men at gunpoint after one of them discussed buying an Apple Watch from her fiance.
“I got my justice. I don’t even care about the watch. I was just happy they got them," she said.
Jacksonville police remind people to meet someone who is offering to sell or buy an item online at police substations or at police headquarters to ensure safe transactions.
LIST: Where to safely meet for online transactions
According to online Duval County jail records, bond was set at $727,500 for Ejon Davis and at $302,500 for Elijah Davis. Both men, neither of whom have any prior arrests in Duval County, are expected to be arraigned in court in early July. Although the two men share the same last name, News4Jax has not been able to confirm whether they're related.
On Monday, News4Jax went to a home that Elijah Davis listed as his address and was told that all his mail was being sent there even though he had not lived there in several years. The woman who has owned the house since 2014 said she was very upset about the situation.
Anyone with additional information about the suspects or the investigations is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500 or email JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org.