JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 23-year-old man was arrested in connection to a Tuesday night shooting outside the Greyhound Bus Station in a normally quiet LaVilla neighborhood.
Koby Robinson was found a half-mile away from the shooting that left 30 evidence markers on the ground as detectives attempted to put the pieces together.
Police said Robinson led them on a chase before his arrest.
A witness who did not see the shooting but was close enough to hear the gunfire ring out said it sounded like a gun battle.
“The first one sounded like a rifle and the second one was definitely a handgun for sure,” the witness said.
One of the rounds struck the second-floor window of a townhome. Fortunately, the home was still under construction.
No one was injured despite the gunfire.
“For that many rounds to go off and nobody gets hit, that was pretty crazy,” the witness said.
Retired JSO director of investigations turned News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney said he understands how community members would be on edge after the shooting.
“That is a lot of shooting. That’s a lot of bullets going a lot of different places,” Hackney said. “The city has really tried hard to get that LaVilla area up where it is. New construction. People living there. Businesses coming in there, so when you have this little violence drop right in there, it really scares people, and it should. That is an example of how dangerous this random shooting violence can be. These run-and-gun battles.”
Hackney explained what someone should do if they are caught in the crossfire.
“When you’re not sure, sometimes the best thing to do is take cover. Get cover behind something as much against a bullet as you can be. A brick wall. Something concrete,” he said.
Hackney also said it’s not a good idea to take off running when gunshots start going off.
“Sometimes it could be just the unknown and then you run into danger because you don’t know where it’s coming from. You can’t determine it,” Hackney said. “If you can see a muzzle flash or where it’s coming from, that helps but if it’s just the sound, it is very dangerous and unknown which way to run so the best thing to do in those cases like that is take cover.”
Another helpful Hackney tip is to take cover behind a vehicle and stay close to the engine and not the back or middle of the car.
He said bullets can penetrate the doors and the trunk but it’s a lot harder for a bullet to go through the engine.
Robinson was charged with being a convicted felon with a firearm, armed trespassing and resisting arrest.
The case is under investigation.