JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — UPDATE: Officers fatally shot a 32-year-old woman Sunday morning after officials said she fired a gun at them, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced at a briefing.
No officers were injured, the undersheriff said. It was the agency’s 15th officer-involved shooting this year.
Officers were called at 10:16 a.m. to Mar Vic Lane and Dunn Avenue, after a caller reported a black woman was pointing a gun at a white man.
Four officers arrived at 10:22 a.m. and determined she was the same person deputies had been unable to find a day earlier, the undersheriff said.
The woman was yelling at officers and carrying bags, which she repeatedly reached into, officials said. Officers asked her at least four times to show her hands, but she did not comply and kept walking away, the undersheriff said.
Officers followed her for about a quarter-mile, giving commands. At one point, an officer said he believed she had a gun.
At 10:34 a.m., at the intersection of Mar Vic and Biscayne avenues, she pulled a gun from a bag and fired once, hitting the driver’s side door of a patrol vehicle, the undersheriff said.
Officers were walking alongside the vehicle for cover. Three of them returned fire multiple times, striking her. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities have not released her name because her next of kin had not been notified. The undersheriff said the officers’ names would be released under Marsy’s Law.
The woman was linked to two earlier calls Saturday, the undersheriff said. At 9:15 a.m. on Satuday, a 911 caller reported a Black woman dressed in purple waving a gun in the 10600 block of Monaco Drive.
About an hour later, at 10:12 a.m., officers were sent to the 10600 block of Briar Cliff Road East, where a caller said a Black woman wearing purple pointed a gun at the caller and the caller’s dog. Officers did not find her either time on Saturday.
When asked whether officers could have de-escalated the situation, given a neighbor’s account that she appeared to be going through a mental health crisis, the undersheriff said that following her, repeatedly asking her to show her hands and eventually telling her to drop the gun was the de-escalation.
“How else do you de-escalate something?” he said.
The undersheriff said he did not have any history on the woman and was not aware of other calls beyond the two on Saturday, though investigators may find more.
The homicide cold case unit and the crime scene unit are investigating, and the State Attorney’s Office is conducting an independent investigation, officials said.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has confirmed an officer-involved shooting occurred in a Northside neighborhood Sunday.
JSO has taped off Mar Vic Lane at Dunn Avenue and Biscayne Boulevard.
The sheriff’s office said the shooting happened on Dunn Avenue and Pine Estates Road East. Our crew at the scene is reporting numerous police vehicles and crime scene tape.
JSO was unable to provide any additional information at this time. Officials are expected to give a briefing later this afternoon.
Action News Jax is working to learn more.
This is a developing story.
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