Duval County

COVID-19 and crime: Seven shootings in Jacksonville in past 48 hours

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Crime in Jacksonville is increasing right along with the number of coronavirus cases.

Sheriff Mike Williams says crime is up 4 percent.

Action News Jax reporter Beth Rousseau says state law enforcement officers are locking up less people even though we’re seeing more shootings.

Friday’s shooting on Leon Road is one of more than seven that have happened since Thursday in Jacksonville.

Local residents say crime is the last thing we need as the coronavirus spreads. COVID-19 is constantly on Tom Capurso’s mind.

“It’s scary. You wonder what’s going on,” he said.

He said police cars swarming the building across the road from his work Friday morning only added to his anxiety.

Investigators tell Action News Jax a road rage incident on Beach Boulevard ended when a man was shot on Leon Road. That man is expected to be OK.

“I mean, we rarely see one or two, let alone a whole bunch of them. It’s kind of scary with everything else that’s going on,” Capurso said.

Capurso isn’t surprised crime is up. Action News Jax has been tracking the number of shootings in the city since the start of March – there have been 42, which have caused the death of 11 people.

Seven of those shootings happened in the last 48 hours.

“You can understand that. People are scared, they’re nervous, they don’t know what’s going to happen,” Capurso said.

State law enforcement officers tell us they’re actually locking up fewer people and releasing some nonviolent offenders to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 throughout the criminal justice system.

Capurso said now is the time for positive thinking and patience.

“The sun is going to rise tomorrow and we’re going to be OK. We need to just hang in there together,” Capurso said.