JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three people are dead and two were critically wounded in a murder-suicide that happened early Saturday morning, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said.
Officers were called to a home on Brian Lakes Drive, off Normandy Boulevard on the Westside, at 3 a.m., where they found two adults with gunshot wounds. The two were taken to local hospitals. A woman who was shot told police the name of the suspect.
As police searched the rest of the house, they found the bodies of three adults.
It appears the suspect was known to at least one of the victims by way of a previous dating relationship. The suspect, Jacoby King, 26, is reported to have dated Ryan Chesser recently, though they were not dating at the time of the shooting, according to JSO.
King's mother disputes the investigators' conclusion and said her son was dating one of the women shot, not Chesser.
Police said they believe that after seeing Chesser while out hours earlier, King went to Chesser’s home and ambushed the group.
After shooting the four victims, it is believed that King turned the firearm on himself, taking his own life.
The deceased victims have been identified as Chesser, 33, and Eric James Bryant, 32.
"They were very good, down to earth people," said Leon Cobb, a friend of the victims. "People that would help you if they can at all."
King is also dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police. (He is not pictured.)
A neighbor who heard screams after the gunshots said a woman and her two brothers live in the house.
"It's really shocking to me that this happened," said Mary, who didn't want to give her last name. "I heard the sister crying. She didn't believe he was dead. She was devastated. She was crying, screaming out loud for about an hour."
Mary lives two doors down from the home where the shooting happened.
"They keep to themselves. They speak. They do their yard work. (I) never (heard) any commotion. You know, they have company. They have visitors, but as for commotion (in which) police (are) called in, no," Mary said. "They’re good neighbors, never cause any problems, and it’s shocking to see this."
Cobb said his cousin was with the deceased victims right before they died.
"I had a cousin who said she was down there with them at the club," he said. "Apparently, she wasn’t feeling so well, she was a little bit tipsy, so she left to come on home. Then, when she read that on Facebook this morning, she was in a state of shock as well."
This is the second shooting involving more than four victims in three days in Jacksonville. On Wednesday, five people were shot and an aspiring rapper was killed in Spring Park.