JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Emotions ran high Sunday as the news of a man shot by a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office officer spread throughout a Northwest Jacksonville community.
“It seems like it’s coming out of nowhere but it’s what been held onto for so long,” said Rakeeme Joyner.
Family members and neighbors held "Don’t Shoot" signs outside the Cleveland Arms Apartments Complex, while JSO Officers were determining what happened inside.
“As the officer goes inside, he finds a subject on top of a female, strangling her in the back bedroom of the apartment,” said Director Tom Hackney with JSO Homeland Security.
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Hackney tells Action News the events happened at about 9 a.m. Sunday. Police received calls about a domestic flight between Devanta Jones, 22, and his girlfriend. Police say when they tried to arrest Jones, he ran away, even running through another apartment at Cleveland Arms.
“The subject that was involved in this had multiple opportunities to comply," Hackney said.
Police say Officer Cliff Sames fired his Taser twice at Jones. One shot missed, the second did not work. They say Jones grabbed the Taser. Police say that Sames then fired his weapon six times, hitting Jones four times.
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“There are a lot of people who are unhappy with the results we have been receiving in this country. They say when it hits close to home, it means the most to you, but something has to change,” Joyner said.
Change needs to happen now, he said. Joyner is Jones' brother.
“Every time you see somebody on TV getting shot by a police officer,” Joyner said.
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Action News spoke with Katrina Oliver, the girlfriend who police say Jones was strangling. She denies the police account of the incident.
“No, I was not getting strangled at all. You would see the marks, there are no marks,” Oliver said.
Jones is at UF Health in critical but stable condition. Sames is on administrative leave as is police protocol in officer-related shootings.