Jacksonville city councilman wants better resources for teens after string of deadly shootings

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is investigating four different shootings around Jacksonville that occurred Tuesday night.

• JSO first tweeted about a shooting on Grunthal Street and W. State Street at 8:43 p.m. Tuesday. JSO said that a suspect(s) shot into a home from the street, hitting a man in the shoulder. There were two children inside the home at the time, according to JSO.
• JSO tweeted a minute later at 8:44 p.m. about another shooting near Owen Avenue and Plum Street. JSO said that a man was shot in the face.
• The third shooting from Tuesday night occurred near East 44th Street and Telfair Street; JSO tweeted about the shooting at 10:40 p.m. The Sheriff's Office said a young adult/teen was found shot to death in the street.
• JSO tweeted about the fourth shooting in the 4200 block of West Lincoln Court at 11:15 p.m. The Sheriff's Office said that a 16-year-old was shot in the arm.
• JSO said Tuesday night that there is no known connection between the shootings.

Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Gaffney said two teens were shot in his district last night and one of them died.

The councilman met with Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry to discuss gun violence and to help get teens better resources in the city.

"I think the devil is busy in Jacksonville right now. I think there is much more that I can do as well as the city can do," Gaffney said.

Gaffney wants better resources for teens in low income communities who are dealing with mental health issues.

"I met with a group of young kids last Friday and they were saying, 'We can turn in our guns, but we still don't have a job, we steal sometimes,' looking for a safe place to go to lay their head," Gaffney said.

If Gaffney has his way, teens in the city could get outside help if they put down their guns.

"I think we need to come up with some additional resources to turn their life around," Gaffney added.

One of the four shootings killed a teenager who was found lying in the road near the intersection of East 44th and Telfair streets.

Action News Jax is working to learn how old the victim was.

So far, no suspects have been arrested.

Action News Jax law and safety expert Dale Carson appreciates Gaffney's ideas.

"All of us should be concerned that this is happening and the way to solve the problem is to start policing correctly and create an environment where young men can obtain a social status without going down the path towards crime," Carson said.

Carson says he'd like to see more energy spent on making sure teens have positive role models who specialize in building relationships.

"We've got to begin with the friction that exists between law enforcement and civilians that are subject to that enforcement all of the time and it's not the people in Pointa Vedra it's the people in the inner city," Carson said.

Gaffney told Action News Jax he plans to stay connected with the mayor to figure out a solution to solve the issues teens in our area facing.

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