JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man who was shot by an officer Saturday morning when he came out of a bathroom holding knives during a standoff with police later died at a hospital, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
JSO Chief of Investigations Brian Kee said police were called at about 4:30 a.m. Saturday to an apartment on Grunthal Street near West 13th and Fairfax streets after reports that a man who appeared high on drugs was knocking and banging on doors while armed with knives.
Police identified the man as 41-year-old Bobby Brown.
Kee said Brown eventually made it to a relative’s apartment and was allowed inside but then threatened everyone in the apartment and threatened to harm himself.
He said Brown hid drugs and other paraphernalia in the unit before locking himself in the bathroom while still armed with the knives.
When officers arrived they were able to evacuate everyone else safely from the apartment and negotiators spent 45 minutes to an hour talking to Brown trying to get him to drop the knives and come out of the bathroom, Kee said.
He said when the Brown did come out still armed with the knives and a Taser was deployed and one officer fired a single shot, hitting the man. Police did not say where Brown was struck but said officers rendered aid with their medical kits and got him to the paramedics who were staged down the street.
The paramedics rushed him to the hospital, where he later died from the gunshot wound. No officers were injured.
The officer who fired the shot is on administrative leave, per protocol, while the shooting is under investigation.
Kee said evidence is being sent to FDLE and the State Attorney’s Office was on scene Saturday investigating as well.
Kee acknowledged that the department has mental health experts who can respond with officers to such a situation but said they are not on duty on the weekends.
Neighbors on edge
A neighbor told News4JAX after the incident Saturday that they were shocked by what happened.
“This does not happen around here,” Carlton Albertie said. “This does not happen in our neighborhood. I do not know what’s going on. There is so much going on in the world and stuff just accumulates and escalates right in your backyard, right next door to you and you never know.”
It was a similar feeling for those who live in the area, including on 13th Street. One woman we spoke with who did not want to be identified said this was surprising to her.
“We have a very nice, quiet neighborhood,” she said. “It is very unusual. I am upset about it because I am worried about my neighbors and there are a lot of kids in this neighborhood.”
News4JAX checked JSO’s crime mapping tool and within a half-mile of the incident on Grunthal Street, over the last month, there have been:
- 12 Assaults
- 5 Reports of vandalism
- 4 Burglaries
- 3 Incidents related to drugs and alcohol