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Nassau County man accused of shooting girlfriend caught after 18-hour search

UPDATE: Billy Johnson has been arrested, the Nassau County Sheriff's Office said.

Johnson was captured around 11 a.m. Wednesday near the site of the shooting. He has been booked into the Nassau County Jail, Sheriff Bill Leeper confirmed.

ORIGINAL STORY: The Nassau County sheriff said Billy Johnson is on the run after his girlfriend was shot in her stomach.

“He could be anywhere right now,” a neighbor said.

The sheriff said his 51-year-old girlfriend was shot at a home off Catalina Drive and she was flown to UF Health with serious injuries.

Deputies are trying to locate her boyfriend, 61-year-old Billy Johnson, but have been unsuccessful so far.

Johnson lives in the area and has been arrested several times before, deputies said.

“I was at work and my daughter called me to tell me what was going on. I am a little concerned,” neighbor Allen Davis said.

Sheriff Bill Leeper said the shooting happened sometime after 4 p.m. Tuesday at the house on Catalina Drive in the Mobley Heights area.

The sheriff said, "As far as we know he's still in this area. Certainly, will look as hard as we can to see where he may be, to locate him sooner than later."

The sheriff said Johnson is not a stranger to law enforcement and has been arrested several times in the past.

Action News Jax found that he is a registered sex offender and was arrested in 1998 and 2002 for sexual battery of a victim over 12 years old. He was arrested again in 2008 for failing to register as an offender.

“They should sweep the street and go door to door knocking,” a neighbor said.

Deputies don’t know what led up to the shooting.

The sheriff is asking for people to call deputies if they see anything suspicious.