JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As another frigid night is expected to draw more people to Jacksonville homeless shelters, police continue to search for a suspect who shot and seriously injured a man at the Sulzbacher Center downtown on Sunday.
Officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said a man approached another man on the property and shot him several times.
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Action News Jax Shanila Kabir has been covering this since we learned about the shooting Sunday afternoon. Many told her this incident may deter people living on local streets from going to homeless shelters on what is expected to be one of the season’s coldest nights yet.
One woman who wanted to remain anonymous said she saw everything unfold before and after that shooting. Now, she will not go back to the Sulzbacher Center for any type of help. She adds she is petrified and hopes better security measures are put in place at local shelters as they will only see more people with this weather.
“The shooter went up to the other guy and asked him to apologize. When he said no, the man shot the victim five times,” she said.
This woman said the gazebo at Sulzbacher was flooded with dozens of people waiting for lunch when that shooting happened.
“It was just chaos after. I immediately ran and got out of there. I’ve never seen anything like that, I could not sleep last night,” she said.
She said children were also present at the time.
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The witness, who was on the property to get lunch and a shower Sunday, said the homeless center needs more and better security measures for anyone who walks onto the property.
“I’m never going back there. I’m scared for my life. I’m going to start looking for an all-women shelter to go to,” she said.
The Sulzbacher Center has not answered specific questions Action News Jax has asked regarding security before and after the shooting, especially in light of the area’s ongoing cold spell and likely demand for overnight shelters.
Sulzbacher did provide a statement which reads in part:
“We take the security of the people we serve and of our staff very seriously. We have 24-hour security personnel and protocols in place at both campuses.
We will continue to cooperate closely with JSO as they investigate this situation while working to identify additional measures to help prevent anything like this from happening again.”
Action News Jax has reached out to JSO for more information on the suspect; we are waiting to hear back. The victim was sent to the hospital in critical condition Sunday afternoon, and we are waiting for an update on him as well.
If you have any information on this shooting, you are encouraged to call JSO.
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