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Police: Fight leads to shots fired at Jacksonville Beach

Jacksonville Beach police say shots were fired in a busy parking lot after two people got into a fight on a walkover near the pier.

No one was hit by the gunfire next to Pier Cantina around 10:30 p.m. Friday, according to police.

One person was taken to the hospital with a laceration, but has since been released from the hospital.

“I was surprised because I really didn’t think there would be gunshots right down here,” one beachgoer, who didn't want to give her name, said.

She said she had gotten dinner with a friend and was sitting on the beach when a man approached her and several others.

She said she walked toward the parking lot after hearing the gunfire -- and saw the same man.

“He was on the ground and he was with some cops,” she said.

Police said no one was in custody as of Saturday. Officers are investigating if the shots were fired in self-defense.

The incident comes as city leaders consider new regulations to curb what Mayor Charlie Latham calls Wild West behavior that takes place in the area after midnight.

He told Action News Jax reporter Brittney Donovan that city attorneys are drafting an ordinance that, if passed, would require restaurants to close at midnight if they receive two infractions during a one-year period.

Restaurants can be given infractions for offenses such as underage drinking and being over capacity.

Latham said right now seven restaurants are open until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

He said four other restaurants are open until 2 a.m. seven days a week.

The new ordinance would also require new restaurants that open in Jacksonville Beach to close at midnight.

Latham says the new ordinance will go through two different readings and should be ready for review in about three weeks.

“It would be nice to feel a bit safer so if it takes regulation that’s fine, for now, until we get it cleaned up,” Kayla Durden said.

Police say they are working with the state attorney’s office to determine if anyone will face charges in Friday’s altercation.