JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is still investigating a shooting that happened early Saturday morning on I-295.
A man told police someone in a car behind him flashed headlights at him, then pulled beside him and opened fire. That man was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
News4JAX spoke with a witness who asked not to be identified. The witness is 15-years-old and spoke to News4JAX with permission from her parent.
The girl lives in close proximity to the section of I-295 where the shooting happened. She said she was awakened around 3:30 a.m. Saturday to the sound of multiple gunshots, and later, to the sounds of a man crying out for help. She said she and her mother went to the window to investigate.
“He was just in a lot of pain, you could tell that he was screaming for help,” the girl said. “We looked outside the window and we couldn’t see anybody. We thought he was right behind my backyard.”
The teen called 911 and watched as first responders swarmed the scene.
“When I looked out my window, I want to say about 10-15 minutes after the gunshots had [gone] off, there were fire trucks and ambulances all lined up 295,” the girl said. “It was very scary because, you know, sometimes you’ll hear gunshots and you’ll think it’s fireworks or something like that. You didn’t know what just happened, you don’t know if it’s safe to go outside or not, and for all you know, the killer could be walking up to your house right now.”
The FHP has not suggested a motive for the shooting, but News4JAX viewers have suggested the case is similar to that of road rage incidents.
State records show the number of reported road rage cases in northeast Florida rose 26% from 2019 to 2020. News4JAX has requested the data on road rage incidents from 2021.