In wake of shooting involving teens, Action News Jax crime & safety expert calls for youth mentors

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is searching for the person who shot two teenagers outside a party at the National Guard Armory on Normandy Boulevard.

The victims are 15 and 17 years old. According to the police report, they sustained serious injuries but are expected to survive.

This latest incident makes it five young victims of gun violence in the last two weeks.

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“They're settling their differences in a fashion that is fatal, a fashion that affects both the person committing the crime as well as the victim of the crime,” said Action News Jax crime & safety expert Ken Jefferson.

It’s a problem, Jefferson said, that Jacksonville has been faced with before.

“It affects all of Jacksonville one way or the other. It affects commerce. It affects how people look at us when they want to move here,” said Jefferson.

The city funds programs within Jax Journey that are aimed at getting troubled kids back on the right path.

But Jefferson said individuals in the community need to get involved too.

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“What I've seen work in the past is if adults would take a young person under their wing and allow that young person to mimic them, or to mentor them,” said Jefferson.

And with summer right around the corner, Jefferson said, more incidents involving young people can be expected.

“An idle mind is a devil's workshop,” said Jefferson.

The Sheriff’s Office has not yet released a motive for Saturday’s shooting.

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