JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 25-year-old Jacksonville police officer is recovering in the hospital from critical injuries after being shot Sunday morning in the Duclay neighborhood, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Malik Daricaud was struck after assisting officers with a follow-up investigation for a traffic incident from last week.
Sheriff T.K. Waters said the incident stemmed from a traffic stop that happened a week ago on Sunday, March 19.
Daricaud was not at the traffic stop but was a part of the group of officers who were following up on the investigation.
Waters said task force officers pulled over Tyliko Maduro, 32, on the Westside at Interstate 295 and 103rd Street for a traffic violation.
According to Waters, Maduro admitted to running a red light. Bodycam footage shown at the news briefing showed officers talking to the man and then asking to search the vehicle. When an officer returned to his cruiser, Maduro drove off before officers could conduct a search or provide a citation.
Waters said officers did not chase after Maduro since it was only a traffic violation.
Waters said officers began the follow-up investigation to identify Maduro when they returned to work Sunday. That’s when they went to a home on Ridgeview Avenue near Morse Avenue to conduct a door knock to have a conversation with Maduro, according to the sheriff.
Officers knocked on the door but no one responded, according to Waters. So, they made contact with Maduro’s mother, who agreed to open the door.
Officers did not have their guns drawn when they approached the door. Only one officer had a taser out, Waters said.
The officers did not go into the home because they did not have a search warrant, Waters said. Bodycam footage showed the moments when the mother opened the door.
You can hear his mother telling him to put the gun down then three rounds of gunshots are fired at the officers -- one striking Daricaud.
The SWAT team was called to the scene and Maduro continued to fire several shots. No shots were ever fired by any JSO officers.
Waters said Maduro died by suicide. No other officers were injured.
Waters said Daricaud was in “a lot of pain” when he went to visit him in the hospital.
“We’re hoping he makes a full recovery,” Waters said. “I’m disappointed that this happened. I’m worried about our police officers. I’m angry at people that decide they want to shoot at police officers.”
There are not any convictions on Maduro’s record, Waters said.
Mayor Lenny Curry responded to JSO’s tweet this morning saying he was monitoring the situation:
“As @JSOPIO continues their work, I continue to monitor reports and ask the people of @CityofJax to keep this wounded officer in their prayers. God bless the entire JSO family for all they do to keep our community safe,” the mayor wrote.
The Fraternal Order of Police tweeted: “Please keep our officer and family in your prayers. We need a miracle.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis shared his support for the officer in a tweet, writing: “@CaseyDeSantis and I are praying for his recovery and the entire @JSOPIO community during this time.”
The Sheriff’s Office closed Morse Avenue between Firestone Road and Skylar Jean Drive for the investigation. A shelter in place order was lifted at about 11:45 a.m. for residents living in the area of Morse and Ridgeview avenues in the Parkview Ridge subdivision.
This is the third officer-involved incident in the city this year. The first was an officer being grazed by a bullet. The second was an officer being attacked outside of a Walmart Supercenter.
Retired JSO Lt. Jim Crosby said working in law enforcement is a risky job.
“It’s gotten increasingly dangerous, and I don’t know why it seems to be a disconnect between the community and police officers. It seems to have become far more combative,” Crosby said.
In 2020, a little over 60,000 law enforcement officers were assaulted while on the job, which was an increase from 2019 when that number was just over 56,000 assaults reported, according to the FBI.
Although there is an understanding that calls for service can escalate, Crosby said he doesn’t understand why the attacks are escalating. He also said it’s important to build more trust with the community, something Waters also mentioned at the briefing.
“We’re working towards change. We’re working hard to show our community that one, we care about them and two, we don’t tolerate you shooting our police officers,” Waters said.
Watch the entire news briefing below: