JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A young boy in Jacksonville's Grand Park area is recovering from a gunshot wound to his leg.
The shooting happened in the area of Flag Street and Kings Road. The Jacksonville Sheriff Office said officers responded to the scene just after 10 p.m.
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Police said the boy was approached and shot by a man wearing a red, white and blue jacket. The man ran from the scene afterward.
The child suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the shooting.
Donald Hogans grew up on the corner of Kings Road and Flag Street. His mother still lives there. He said crime has become a major problem in the area.
"Crime just got outrageous lately. This is one of the high-crime areas in Jacksonville. I've been over here doing my mother's yard for over an hour. I haven't seen one police officer patrolling this area. They spend millions of dollars to (find) out where shots are coming from, but you have nobody to respond to it. If the police have to come from a substation to respond to a shot, the people are already gone. What good is that?" Hogan asked.
Hogans said he would like to see better police-community relations.
"I think they're just words, programs. Without police officers patrolling communities, what good does that do? You need a cop on every corner now, and without that, nothing is going to get done. If you keep doing the same thing, you're going to keep getting the same result," Hogan said.
According to the JSO crime map, in addition to last night's gunfire, three crimes have occurred in a half-mile radius of the shooting during the past week: larceny, vandalism and assault.
Anyone with information on who may have shot the young boy or why is asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS (8477).
