JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – The Jacksonville Beach Police Department on Tuesday released the name of the man killed in one of three shootings in the downtown bar district on Sunday.
They said 21-year-old James Jones III was rushed to the hospital after he was shot around 8:30 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of a sports restaurant on Beach Boulevard at 1st Street North. He died at the hospital.
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The deadly shooting was one of three reported within 40 minutes that disrupted a busy St. Patrick’s Day holiday in Jacksonville Beach on Sunday that coincided with Spring Break and the end of The Players Championship in nearby Ponte Vedra Beach.
MORE: Complete coverage of Jacksonville Beach St. Patrick’s Day shootings
The first shooting, reported at 7:50 p.m. near a hotel on 1st Street, left three people injured, including the two men who fired at each other, police said. An innocent bystander from out of town was also wounded.
One of the shooters and the bystander were taken to the hospital, and the other shooter, who police identified as a “certified gang member,” took himself to the hospital.
Their current conditions are unknown.
Police have not announced any arrests but said they are looking for three young potential shooters wearing dark clothing and armed with handguns and a rifle or AR-type pistol.
In one of the incidents Sunday, a man wearing a ski mask fired a shot as he ran past a bar on 3rd Avenue. No one was hit and police later found that gun, Jacksonville Beach Police said.
Investigators are also reviewing footage from the city’s CCTV system to piece together answers and locate potential shooters and people involved.
Jacksonville Beach police said the incidents started Sunday with a planned gathering of 250-400 people in their late teens and early 20s under the pier. Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Gene Paul Smith said officers broke up the crowd because they started fighting. The first shooting happened as the crowd separated.
On Tuesday, police released the 911 calls they received about Sunday’s shootings and said CCTV footage shows many people in the parking lot when Jones was shot. Police said the shooting involved three men who were involved in a “disturbance” and pulled out firearms. Only one man fired a shot, fatally wounding Jones.
Police are asking anyone who was in the parking lot, was near the boardwalk or who has cellphone video to contact JBPD at 904-270-1661.
The police department also plans to create a link where people can upload videos from that night that can help assist in the investigation.