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Loaded rifle thrown near Jacksonville children walking home from store, police say

A loaded semi-automatic rifle was thrown near two Jacksonville siblings as they were walking home from a store, according to police.

Officers said the incident happened Sunday afternoon near West 30th Street and North Myrtle Avenue.

The police report classifies the gun as a 9mm Kel-Tec rifle. The report states the gun had five live rounds inside.

“I was right there, and it was like two feet behind me,” said Mikaylo Edwards, 16.

Edwards and his big sister, Maiya Downing, 18, are still shaken up. They told police two Hispanic males in an older model convertible were responsible.

"You're scared to leave your home?" Action News Jax reporter Russell Colburn asked Downing.
"Yes, terrified," she replied.

According to crime mapping data from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, police have been called to within a quarter-mile of the scene nearly 50 times in the last six months.

That includes calls for violent crimes such as armed robbery and battery.

In the police report, the officer notes: "A search for any recent gun-related incidents had negative results."

“The compelling question is, where did it come from?  Who did it belong to?  Was it actually used in a crime?” said Action News Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson.

“And the initial report basically outlines that there's nothing that's been reported as of yet,” he added.

But according to Jefferson, this may not be the last we hear about the gun.
He said it'll go to the JSO Property Room, ready to be checked out, should investigators believe the gun could be related to another crime.

But with no one injured, and considering the gun didn't end up in the wrong hands, Jefferson and these siblings know this could've been much worse.

“It had a fully loaded magazine in it with five rounds of ammunition in it that could've killed five people,” Jefferson said.