Local

Friend of man killed while breaking up fight outside Jacksonville club: 'He made you feel alive'

Friends and family are mourning the loss of a 24-year-old who was shot while breaking up a fight outside a popular Jacksonville nightclub.

Video taken Friday morning outside Suite nightclub shows a chaotic scene after Sina Sharifai was shot.

“He made you feel alive, every time you were around him,” Sharifai’s close friend Jonathan Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said Sharifai did not like to argue, and police said he was trying to keep the peace after an argument outside Suite.

Police said around 2 a.m., 24-year-old Toray Ricketts and a friend got into an argument with others as they were leaving Suite.

Police said Ricketts went to his car and got a gun and then got into an altercation with Sharifai.

Police said the two ended up on the ground and Ricketts pulled a gun from his waistband.

Police said Sharifai tried to run but was hit after Ricketts fired two shots.

Police said two off-duty officers heard gunfire outside the club and found Sharifai seriously wounded.

He died from his injuries after he was taken to the hospital.

“He doesn’t give handshakes,” Rodriguez said. “He gives hugs, you know? ‘Good to see you man. I miss you. How you doing?’”

Friends said they were shocked to learn Sharifai was killed, and other people said they were surprised it happened at the Markets at Town Center.

“It’s not something you typically see here. It’s like, a nice, family-oriented community,” Cameron Frew, who works nearby, said. “Everybody’s just out here trying to get good shopping, good food, so the fact that somebody was shot and killed over there, sort of, kind of, hits home.”

Action News Jax looked into calls for service for the club since last September.

Almost 30 calls were made over the six-month period but only two of them required police to write a report.

“People will fistfight. They’ll flash guns around and wave guns around, but I’ve never seen anybody actually get so ballsy as to pull the trigger,” Frew said.