JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Four days after 7-year-old Breon Allen was killed in a drive-by shooting on Commonwealth Avenue, there have been no arrests.
The attack, which police believe targeted Allen’s 21-year-old cousin, Lafayette Mango Jr., has sparked outrage across Jacksonville.
On Friday, surveillance footage captured the tragic events as shooters drove up in a car, stepped out, and started shooting at Mango and Allen.
Police said Mango, who officers believe is affiliated with a gang, was the intended target. Breon, tragically caught in the crossfire, was fatally shot. Mango remains in critical condition.
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Former Jacksonville gang member 60-year-old Ivan Brown, who now works to steer kids away from gang life, shared his perspective on the escalating violence.
“When I was active, gangs abided by certain codes,” Brown said. “One of those codes was against harming innocent people who have nothing to do with being in a gang.” Known on the streets as “civilians,” innocent people were typically off-limits.
But, Brown added, many modern gangs no longer follow such codes.
“The big thing about so-called gangs now is that they are not dealing with codes,” he said, emphasizing that today’s gangs care less about who they harm, focusing only on eliminating rivals.
Brown also noted that social media has given gangs new ways to communicate through coded language.
“They have certain words that mean certain things, like death. They don’t call it death,” he said.
When police decipher the language, gangs quickly adapt and switch to new codes, making it harder to track their communications.
Retired JSO Director of Investigations and News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney warned that retaliation is a serious concern following such an attack.
“Law enforcement ramps up their actions to prevent it, but some of the rival gang members involved in this type of thing do the same thing, so as JSO has people looking for retaliation, on the flip side of that coin, you got gang members out looking for who they think are responsible for this,” Hackney said.
Brown believes retaliation is likely already in the planning phase.
“Planning is following up where the hit came from, who it came from, and where they are located,” he said.
If you have any information that can lead to an arrest, call 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.
An enhanced reward of up to $18,000 is being offered by JSO as they continue to look for the people responsible for Allen’s death.