Jacksonville — A teenager was fatally shot at the InTown Suites on St. Johns Bluff Road North in Jacksonville.
At a press briefing earlier this morning Lt. Mike Wilcox, commanding officer of the Jacksonville Sheriffs Homicide Unit, said that at approximately 1:54 AM officers were dispatched to a room at the hotel where they discovered a white male, 16 years of age fatally shot. They believe the victim was staying at the hotel.
Homicide detectives, crime scene personnel and the State’s Attorney’s office arrived on the scene to begin the investigation Wilcox describes as still in the early stages of development. Investigators are checking the hotel security video and several witnesses have been detained. Investigators are still waiting for a search warrant to investigate the victim’s room.
“I can’t imagine the family having to go through this... like my mother said he’s from Pennsylvania and now your child has passed away,” says Kingsley
Anthony Kingsley, who lives in the area, said he hurts for the family who is going through this. He added that he doesn’t believe the teen was from the area.
Kinglsey says early this morning when the shooting first happened he saw a very chaotic scene
“The patrol car stopped kind of in the middle of the street there. All of a sudden there were a bunch of cop cars, and firetrucks coming from everywhere.”
Action News Jax dug through our records of gun violence against kids in 2022.
So far, Jacksonville has a total of 23 shootings involving kids. Six were deadly — something that Kingsley just can’t understand.
“I don’t know how a kid can get killed over something so petty,” says Kingsley.
The victim has been identified but investigators are not able to release his information.
There is no suspect information at this time.
Lt. Wilcox is urging anyone with information to contact JSO at the non-emergency number or First Coast Crime Stoppers.