JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 22-year-old Jacksonville resident remains in critical condition following an officer-involved shooting Sunday evening on the city’s Southside, marking the 11th time a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office deputy has fired upon a suspect this year.
The incident unfolded around 6:00 p.m. on Kline Road, just north of Beach Boulevard, after JSO officers responded to a domestic dispute.
According to Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters, investigators learned that 22-year-old Keon Atkinson, who had been living in a shed behind her grandparents’ home, allegedly pointed a firearm at her grandfather.
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Upon arriving at the scene, responding officers attempted to defuse the situation, but Atkinson barricaded herself inside the structure.
“They attempted to talk the individual down, but several times she was having none of it,” Sheriff Waters stated during a press briefing Sunday night.
When Atkinson finally exited the shed, she refused to comply with commands from officers instructing her to show her hands. In an attempt to subdue her non-lethally, one officer deployed a Taser. Officers said Atkinson then drew a handgun.
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“I think what’s most important to point out is, though we had our weapons drawn in the lower ready position, she was still able to draw a pistol, fire off a round before we return fire, striking her,” Waters said.
Atkinson was taken to a local hospital, where she is currently fighting for her life. No officers or family members were injured in the exchange.
The violent encounter shattered the peace of a neighborhood unaccustomed to such chaos, leaving residents rattled as police cruisers flooded the block.
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“I was doing something in the house, I just heard the gunshot, and it just was flooded with policemen out of nowhere,” said Arismel Cruz, who has lived near Kline Road for roughly five years. “We didn’t even know what was happening.”
Cruz noted that this was the first time she had ever heard gunfire in the area, so close to her home, a sentiment echoed by several other neighbors who declined to speak on camera but expressed deep shock over the incident.
“In my condition, I was like, where would I go? What would I do if something bad would have happened?” Cruz added. “And it was kind of scary because nothing really happens in this neighborhood.”
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