JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – A 33-year-old father of four killed Wednesday night in a Jacksonville Beach neighborhood was gunned down in front of his 2-year-old daughter, authorities said.
The Jacksonville Beach Police Department made a plea to the public the next day, urging anyone with information to come forward.
Officers were called just after 8 p.m. Wednesday to a report of a person being shot in the area of Sanctuary Boulevard and Jacksonville Drive in the Sanctuary Lake neighborhood. The man died at the scene. The 2-year-old was not injured and was brought to the police station to be reunited with family.
At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Sgt. Tonya Tator, with the Police Department, asked anyone living along the route in the map below — including South 15th Street, Fairway Lane, Seabreeze Avenue and America Avenue — who has seen anything suspicious in their home security systems relating to a black SUV between the hours of 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Wednesday to call the Police Department at 904-270-1661 so officers can go look at the video.
Police urged anyone else with information to contact them as well.
“It is very tragic. This affects a lot of lives, again he was a father of four, so you can imagine how many lives this has affected,” Tator said. “And this is where we really got to urge the community to come forward with anything they may not think it’s a big deal, but it might be a big deal.”
Tator said police did find handgun shell casings at the scene. Tator said they also discovered a damaged tire at the scene, but it’s unknown at this point whether it’s related to the investigation.
Neighbor Matt Fennell pointed out that Sanctuary Drive has easy access to J. Turner Butler Boulevard.
“If anything were to happen like this, then you could jump right onto JTB and you’re out of here in a split second,” Fennell said.
The deadly shooting happened feet away from his home, but he said he’s not nervous.
“It can happen anywhere,” he said.
Detectives continue to investigate.