JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 6-year-old was killed early Wednesday morning in a triple shooting that left a man and a 12-year-old injured, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.
“It’s absolutely heartbreaking,” JSO Assistant Chief J.D. Stronko said. “These are the phone calls that you do not want to get in the middle of the night.”
Stronko said officers were called just after 1:45 a.m. to a report that someone had been shot at an apartment complex on King Street.
They found a man and two children with gunshot wounds at the Hollybrook Homes Apartments in the Lackawanna area. Sheriff T.K. Waters said the children were asleep in their beds when a single bullet hit them both, killing one and injuring the other.
All three were taken to the hospital, where the 6-year-old died. The man and 12-year-old have injuries that are not life-threatening, Stronko said. Because of Marsy’s Law, Stronko would not confirm if the man and two children are related.
Police are still searching for the shooter, a man who ran from the complex on foot, Stronko said.
The property has a security gate and a contracted security agency for the property. Security workers are escorting children to and from the school bus and providing additional resources.
“There’s a lot of trauma in this community right now. We understand that the children and the families here are very distraught, they’re very upset, as are we,” said Sean Saunders, Security Director with Proteus Protective Services.
Proteus is contracted to be there for security. Saunders says it is a tight knit community, one his agency has developed trust with. “We are looking at this as a family matter and not just a business matter,” Saunders said.
A worker at the apartments told News4JAX the man who was injured in the shooting was not supposed to be on the property at the time.
The 6-year-old is the ninth child to be shot and killed in Jacksonville since the beginning of the year -- and the fourth this month. Counting Wednesday’s shooting, at least 25 children have been shot in Jacksonville this year, according to News4JAX records.
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“We have the best men and women working hard to solve these crimes,” Stronko said, adding that cooperation from the community is essential. “We can have all the best detectives, all the best tools, but at the end of the day we need the community to come forward and start to identify these people who are committing these crimes against the children in this community.”
“People should not be afraid to go home, people should not be afraid to come out of their houses. And right now, that’s a big sentiment across the city as a whole. We serve as many properties here in the city, this is echoed on all of those properties, we want to make it better,” Saunders said.
Anyone with information about Wednesday’s shooting is asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500 or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.