JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Video shared with News4JAX shows the shocking moments bullets narrowly missed hitting a UFC fighter outside a Jacksonville home.
Ramon Taveras said that on July 29 he was leaving his mother’s house to go outside and get diapers from his trunk in the Southside Estates area.
“That’s when I heard the first shot go off, and I ducked,” he said.
In the Ring doorbell camera video, multiple shots can be heard as Taveras hides behind his car for safety.
“To be honest, man, as soon as that happened, I thought I was dead. I thought I was going to die,” he said.
Taveras said he then grabbed his gun and returned fire. Shortly after, his family ran outside screaming.
“God chose me to walk out of the house that day. You know, it could have been my little brother. It could have been my wife and my kids. Could have been my mom,” he said.
The Taveras family has dealt with tragedy before.
Taveras’s brother, Gabriel, was shot and killed along with another person on Dec. 7, 2019, at an apartment complex off Atlantic Boulevard. It’s a case that has remained unsolved.
Taveras said his family is still hoping for answers in that case.
“I want them caught, you know?” he said about the July shooting. “I want them to pay for what they did. Especially if it has something to do with my brother. We’ve been waiting for some type of closure, and that has not happened yet and that will bring a lot of peace to me and my family.”
Taveras said he had no idea who it was that pulled up to his mother’s house and opened fire.
“I don’t do nothing. I don’t bother nobody. I don’t hurt nobody. You know, I show mad love to my city. I’ll show my love to everybody,” Taveras said.
News4JAX reached out to JSO about the shooting and the department sent this statement:
“Detectives are working through available evidence, which may include surveillance video, in an effort to identify the circumstances and potential suspects in the case. Once identified and vetted, we would push any available information or video to the community if doing so may identify the suspect.”
Because of the shooting, Taveras said, he has since left the city for safety and to train privately.
For now, he continues his training, and the investigation also continues.
“Hopefully trying to get some help from the UFC of some sort, so I can move out of the state,” he said.
If you have information about what happened, you are asked to contact JSO or First Coast Crimestoppers at JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org or call 904-630-0500.