JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Four people, including a teenager, were shot after a large weekend gathering in Jacksonville’s Sherwood Forest neighborhood, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Social media video shows the chaotic moments when gunfire erupted near a convenience store where a crowd had gathered for what community members described as an annual block party.
The video, which lasts more than two minutes, shows people crouching on the ground and scrambling for cover as multiple rounds of gunfire can be heard.
All four victims are expected to survive.
The owner of Moe’s Mart, Moe Tayer, told Action News Jax the annual gathering has been held in the area for years and has traditionally brought neighbors together without problems. The store owner welcomes the community to use the store’s parking lot during the yearly celebration and says the violence does not reflect the neighborhood as a whole. He believes the shooting stemmed from issues involving people who were not part of the neighborhood gathering.
“We try to have fun, enjoy the time. Everybody’s cool people, everybody’s from around here,” Tayer said.
Drone video from the event shows hundreds of people gathered near the store before the shooting.
“They always think that these people they just here to kill each other. No,” Tayer said.
“People thought they were getting shot at from other people that had beef or issues from somewhere else that just came to the neighborhood to mess it up,” Tayer said.
Tayer said he typically hires Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office officers to patrol the area during the event, but this year’s turnout was larger than expected.
He said organizers plan to make adjustments before next year’s gathering to improve safety.
“We’ll learn from our mistakes, and we’ll do it again and again and again,” Tayer said.
Tayer also told Action News Jax the shooting did not happen on his property, but farther up the street.
As of Monday, JSO had not announced any arrests in the case.
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