JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Only hours apart from each other, officers opened two investigations Tuesday night following separate shootings in Jacksonville.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was first called out to Springfield in a neighborhood about three blocks from Main Street. While police were searching the scene, a report came in around 9:30 p.m. of a man arriving to a local hospital with a life-threatening gunshot wound.
Based on a preliminary report, JSO said the victim and several other people were driving on East 8th Street when a suspect opened fire, hitting one person.
Then just before midnight, an off-duty officer at a local hospital was notified of a victim with a bullet wound in his ankle. Upon further investigation, JSO discovered that the victim got into a fight near Emerson Street over a basketball game. During the altercation, the suspect opened fire, then ran off.
No suspect information was released, but police are interviewing witnesses and trying to obtain security footage.
Police describe the suspect as a Black man in his early 20s wearing all black. He also has a neck tattoo, twists in his hair and a chipped tooth.
This seems to be an isolated incident with no threat to the community.
Anyone with information on either incident is asked to call JSO’s non-emergency line at 904-630-0500 or email jsocrimetips@jaxsheriff.org. The Crime Stoppers hotline is also open and listed as 1-866-845-TIPS.