JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – One person was killed and three others were injured in three unrelated shootings Sunday night during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the busy downtown bar district of Jacksonville Beach.
Police initially put out a warning of an “active shooter situation” around 8:30 p.m. as they searched for multiple shooters.
The area was locked down for hours Sunday night. Police said no arrests have been made.
Between Spring Break, St. Patrick’s Day and the end of The Players Championship in nearby Ponte Vedra Beach, the bars were packed Sunday night.
Watch the update from Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Gene Paul Smith in the video below:
Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Gene Paul Smith said the incident began Sunday with a gathering of 250-400 people in their late teens and early 20s under the pier. Smith said his agency had received a tip about the planned gathering and officers were assigned to the area.
He said around 8 p.m. the officers had to break up the crowd when they began to engage in fights and boxing matches. Smith said as the crowd separated, two young men shot at each other on the boardwalk near 2nd Avenue North. Both were wounded and an innocent bystander was also hit.
All three were seriously injured but were listed as stable Monday morning.
Smith said officers witnessed the shooting and immediately tried to catch one of the shooters who ran from the scene and gave medical aid to the injured.
The shooter who ran off later showed up at a local hospital with a gunshot wound. Smith said that he is listed by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office as a “certified gang member.” The other shooter and bystander were taken to the hospital by rescue units.
Smith said the second incident happened at 8:13 p.m. as a man in a ski mask was seen running past a bar holding a gun and he fired a shot. No one was hit and police later found the gun, Smith said.
“At this time, I decided, based on multiple shooters unknown, based on victims unknown, to issue an active threat alert, to lock down all bars and immediately evacuate the downtown area, because of the unknown circumstances of the shooter,” Smith said.
The third shooting was reported just after 8:30 p.m. in the parking lot of a restaurant at the corner of 1st Street North and Beach Boulevard.
RELATED: Timeline of St. Patrick’s Day shootings in Jacksonville Beach
Smith said that witnesses told investigators three men were involved in a “disturbance” and pulled out weapons, but only one fired. A 21-year-old man died at the scene.
The shooter in the second incident got away and police are still looking for that person.
Smith said a second weapon and multiple shell casings have been recovered from the scenes.
Smith said no officers fired their weapons because they were concerned about the crowd, but they would have, he said, if they thought it was necessary to protect themselves or bystanders.
Evan Rajta, whose family owns SALT in Jacksonville Beach, said his staff helped the wounded bystander.
“My whole staff was prepared and we have armed security. We were well-prepared. We helped the gentleman that was shot, our staff did,” Rajta said. “Our head of security had some medical gear on him and they helped him out.”
A young woman who was at SALT when the chaos broke out said less than five minutes after she and her group walked into the bar, everyone was yelling “Get down!” so they dropped to the floor and then heard gunshots outside.
She said everyone stayed down until it was safe to run out of the bar.
“What happens is when we have the bigger events and the weather is good, a lot of people from the inner city come in and create chaos,” Rajta said.
A woman who works as an Uber driver told News4JAX she was taking customers to The Tavern on First Street in Jacksonville Beach when they heard gunshots and saw a crowd of people running near Sneakers Sports Grille. She said she heard anywhere from eight to 10 gunshots.
“It’s been crazy. I’ve been coming in and out trying to pick people up just to make sure they’re safe,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified. “I just want to make sure people are OK. Everybody’s very scared.”
Casey Jones told News4JAX he was at Lynch’s Irish Pub about a block away from the shooting commotion and had some friends down at Surfer The Bar.
“They were supposed to meet us. It was crazy,” Jones said. “What they said is when it happened that management rushed them up to the second level; they put stuff in the windows. I don’t know what they put in the windows, but it’s really nice that the bars were prepared for this and the way they took care of us.”
Jones said at Lynch’s, the management pulled everyone inside off the patio and locked the doors.
“I mean they did a great job. It was cool because they got bits and pieces from the cops, and they said, ‘If you’re leaving, don’t go to the right, even if your car is there. So don’t go south. That’s where the problem is.’ People are like, ‘I parked there,’ and they said, ‘Well, if you go there you might end up dead. Don’t go to your car. Go north, don’t go south.’ It’s crazy.”
A security guard at the Best Western in the area said when he arrived, his supervisor told him to keep the doors locked and secure because the shooters had not been caught.
“There was just a lot of high emotions,” Malik Benson said. “I feel like they could still be around now we don’t know.”
Benson said he was surprised by the violence.
“I wouldn’t even expect something like this to happen over here,” he said. “So, it’s just kind of mind-boggling. I don’t know what could really happen.”
News4JAX went to Jacksonville Beach Monday morning and found the area to be almost empty.
“It’s terrible. People come out here to have fun and there’s bullets flying around,” Ricky Pokorny, who lives near the beach, said.
Jacksonville Beach police posted a compilation of videos on their Instagram account, which includes user videos, city surveillance, and video surveillance from businesses. These videos are being used as part of their investigation.
“I want you to come to Jacksonville Beach. I want you to live here, I want you to visit. But if you break the law, we’re going to put you in jail. And some people may need some reminders of that, and that will be forthcoming in the next few weeks,” Smith said.
Chief Smith asked anyone with information, cellphone video or social media video of any of the incidents last night to please contact the Jacksonville Beach Police Department at 904-270-1667 and ask for the detective section.