JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One man is dead and another is in critical condition after a double shooting early Sunday morning, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
At approximately 1 a.m., JSO received several 911 calls reporting a shooting on West 11th Street, west of Grunthal Street. Patrol officers arrived to find two men, between 20 and 30 years old, suffering from gunshot wounds.
One of the men died at the scene and the other was taken to a hospital in critical condition by first responders with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department.
Police say a large group of people were in the area when the shooting happened, but by the time officers arrived, most of those individuals had already left.
Many of the neighbors News4JAX spoke with Sunday did not want to be on camera, citing fear of retaliation. One woman, who asked not to be identified, said she initially mistook the gunshots for fireworks.
“We thought it was fireworks, honestly, because people have been shooting fireworks off for the past week — and then we realized it was worse than what it was,” she said.
She described waking up to find her street completely roped off.
“We got up around one o’clock and I saw flashing lights. At first I thought it was somebody partying because it happens a lot around here. So I wake my husband up and we come out — and it’s roped off at the front of the house all the way past the apartment complex. There was a lot of cops. Nobody said anything to us. We had no idea what was going on.”
The woman, who moved to Jacksonville from South Carolina less than six months ago with her husband and children, said the shooting has her reconsidering whether she made the right decision moving here.
“We are looking to move,” she said. When told she had only been in Jacksonville for four months, she was direct: “We’re moving. It was terrifying — because I’m here alone a lot, my husband works. We don’t want to be here no more.”
Neighbors told News4JAX they want to see a stronger police presence on the block going forward.
Detectives from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit, Crime Scene Unit and State Attorney’s Office are conducting an investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at 904-630-0500, email jsocrimetips@jaxsheriff.org or call CrimeStoppers at 866-845-TIPS.