JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police doing a welfare check Wednesday afternoon at a home on Merivale Road, near the Ribault River, found a man dead, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Homicide detectives were processing the home for evidence and canvassing the Lake Forest Hills neighborhood, looking for any witnesses or information that could help.
Police, who were called to the house by a neighbor, have not named the victim or said how or when he died. They did say his death was "under suspicious circumstances."
A man identifying himself as the victim's son told News4Jax that Gary Tripp Sr. just turned 69 and was a Vietnam veteran. He said his dad was shot in the back of the head and there was no sign that anyone had broken into the home.
“I don’t have any idea who would do it," Gary Tripp Jr. said. "His door was opened and he never left his door unlocked."
Loved ones said Tripp Sr. was a family man who never met a stranger, and had lived in the neighborhood for 20 years. Now, family members said, he deserves justice.
"I hope they come forward. That's all I got to say for them," said Cathy Holmes, who identified herself as the victim's sister.
The victims sister believes her brother had to have let his killer into his house because no one would have been able to get through the burglar bar on his door without the alarm going off. @wjxt4 pic.twitter.com/KDdUxiOnbL
— Corley Peel (@WJXT_CorleyPeel) April 25, 2018
The homicide unit and crime scene unit detectives remained at the scene late Wednesday afternoon.
This was the first homicide reported in Jacksonville in more than three weeks. That stretch is the longest the city has gone in 2018 without a homicide.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS (8477).