JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Neighbors who heard gunfire early Monday morning later found a man wounded in the driver’s seat of a car on West 6th Street and called police, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Steve Rudlaff said.
Paramedics arrived but the man died at the scene.
Rudlaff said witnesses heard between two to four gunshots before finding the man, believed to be between 25-35 years old, in the car around 4 a.m.
Larry Reed said he was outside his home with his dog Chop Chop around midnight or 1 a.m. when he heard what he thought were firecrackers.
“When I woke up and I saw that down there, I said, ‘Dang. Somebody must have gotten killed down there or something.’ I see the red tape,” Reed said.
That tape was surrounding the area where a black Toyota Camry with a Georgia plate was seen in the middle of the road. Rudlaff said the car was likely a rental vehicle. He said the driver’s door was opened and its window shattered.
It’s not clear if the car was moving when the shooting happened.
“We do know the car was shot into, but as far as where it was actually at, the residents in the area heard the gunfire so it was in this area,” Rudlaff said.
Reed lives a block away from the car was found and said the area is fine until nightfall when traffic picks up and things can get “a little rough.”
He said he doesn’t feel safe knowing a shooting happened so close to his home. He said police haven’t been patrolling in the area like they used to— and he’d like to see them out in the area more.
Rudlaff said the community should be alert with at least one armed suspect still on the loose.
“Obviously, there are concerns. We do not know who the shooter is, so there is at least a shooter -- there could be more. We’re not sure,” Rudlaff said. “There is a little bit of danger out there when you have somebody that’s just got murdered and you don’t have a suspect.”
Detectives were searching for any other witnesses or any surveillance video that might help identify the shooter or shooters.
Anyone with information is asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500 or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.