JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Seven people were shot, two fatally, in a span of three days in Jacksonville.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, seven separate shootings, including a double shooting, were reported between late Friday morning and Sunday evening across the city.
About 11 a.m. Friday, officers were called to a shooting on Third Street Circle South, off Melson Avenue, in the Paxon neighborhood. Police said a woman was shot inside a house but was outside by the time Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department personnel arrived. The woman was taken to UF Health hospital, where she died. Police said three or four other people were in the home at the time of the shooting and they were all detained for questioning.
Nine hours later, police responded about 8 p.m. Friday to a 911 call about a person shot on Brooklyn Road, just south of Edgewood Avenue West. Police said a man in his 30s died from at least one gunshot wound.
About 11:30 p.m. Friday, police responded to a double shooting on McMillan Street, near Kings Road, in the College Gardens neighborhood of Northwest Jacksonville. Police said they found two men in their 20s with gunshot wounds. According to the Sheriff’s Office, one man was struck in the lower leg and the other was shot in the upper torso. Both men were transported to an area hospital. The Sheriff’s Office said ShotSpotter discovered three gunshots were fired.
The next day, officers responded about 3:30 p.m. Saturday to a report of shots fired on Justina Road. Police said they learned a man in his 30s was shot in the leg during a drive-by. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the man said he was sitting at the bus stop when a red SUV, possibly a GMC, drove by and shots were fired at him from the vehicle. The man was taken to an area hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.
Just over five hours later, police were again called about 8:40 p.m. Saturday to a shooting on Justina Road. Police said they found a woman with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, and she was taken to a hospital.
The two shootings Saturday took place within two blocks just north of Merrill Road. It was not immediately clear whether those shootings were related.
Adding to the violent weekend, a man was shot in the lower leg just after 10 p.m. Sunday night in the area of Jacks Road in the Biltmore neighborhood. His injury was not considered life-threatening.
Three of the six shootings happened in Northwest Jacksonville. That’s the district represented by Jacksonville City Councilwoman Ju’Coby Pittman. She, along with State Rep. Kimberly Daniels and other community leaders, recently announced an initiative to help fight crime and clean up poorly maintained areas of Northwest Jacksonville.
“It’s important that we take our communities back,” said Pittman, who plans to meet Wednesday with Sheriff Mike Williams to discuss the initiative.
Some of the issues she plans to bring up are outstanding warrants around the city. She wants to work with police to go arrest people with outstanding warrants, saying many people who are arrested have outstanding warrants.
Pittman also wants to talk with the sheriff about other mechanisms for high-crime areas, such as installing surveillance cameras and opening up new JSO substations. She said many used to be present that no longer exist.
Pittman also wants to work on attracting jobs to Northwest Jacksonville and picking up trash in the area.
“One of my priorities is to clean the main streets of Northwest Jacksonville," Pittman said. “We need to also teach our children and residents in certain areas to keep the place where they live clean.”
Northwest Jacksonville residents are frustrated by the violence.
“When I was younger, growing up around here, I didn’t see all this," said Reggie Davis, who lives near the Brooklyn Road shooting scene and has lived in the area for about 40 years. “I didn’t see nobody getting killed.”
Davis said he’s seen gunfire recently in the area, citing three incidents of shots fired when speaking with News4Jax on Monday.
“Last Sunday -- my brother lives over there -- about 3 in the morning, someone shot up his car,” he said.
As of Monday afternoon, no arrests had been announced in any of the shootings.
Anyone with information that could help investigators is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at 904-630-0500 or email JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS (8477).