Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office issues ‘critical incident briefing’ on fatal January police shooting

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has released new details about a deadly police shooting that happened in Oceanway in January.

JSO on Thursday released video that shows the very moments leading up to officers shooting the suspect.

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We first told you two weeks ago when police conducting surveillance on a known drug dealer on North Main Street at Drury Lane on January 19.

Investigators say they tried to arrest the suspect, Eric Thornton, but he took off running. That’s when officers noticed he had a knife. The officer then shot Thornton several times, killing him.

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JSO posted the video on its YouTube page. You can watch it below. Warning: Viewer discretion is advised.

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JSO said another suspect was arrested and an 8-year-old child was in the van with the two. The child wasn’t hurt.

Police found two knives and two grams of fentanyl at the scene.

According to JSO’s Transparency Page, this was the first police shooting of 2023.

In January, JSO released a similar “critical incident briefing” on a November officer-involved shooting. JSO said it is part of Sheriff T.K. Waters’ commitment to transparency.

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