It wasn’t a random shooting.
Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams says there is a very active investigation still ongoing after two teens were shot at the Art Walk in Downtown Wednesday night. JSO does not believe the shooting was targeting the event or participants, rather that those involved came together in the alley off Laura Street, potentially to engage in some kind of criminal act, like a drug deal.
Williams now confirms there were multiple calibers of shell casings found at the scene, so it’s believed multiple firearms were involved. One of the victims had an empty holster on him, so Williams says it’s possible that person fired some of the shots. He says they’ve also linked a car to the incident and found an empty holster in that.
A 16-year-old and 17-year-old were shot, but the injuries are not considered life threatening. Williams says these victims are not cooperating with JSO in their investigation. Much of the police work right now is looking in to the victims and history then have with JSO, although neither are affiliated with any known gangs.
Up to two suspects are believed to be involved. The only description at this time is that one may be a black male with long dreads, according to the incident report.
Williams says, while it’s tragic that something like this happened at a large event Downtown, it’s important for people to understand that area is actually a generally safe location. There were no statistics immediately available for Downtown crime, but Williams says there have been more than 150 Art Walks in more than 13 years, and none have seen gun crime, to their recollection.
While Williams continually emphasized that they don’t believe the shooting itself was random, there will likely be more police at the event next month, as well as some of the other large scale events that are hosted in the area.
“They [Art Walk attendees] will probably see more of a presence, there may be more people there that they don’t recognize to be police officers that will be there as well. We obviously are going to take a hard look at that and make sure that we put the staffing levels where they need to be to protect not only this event but all these events Downtown. These events continue to grow. We continue to have more and more activity Downtown, and that is what we all want and it’s good for the city, so we’ve got to be on the front edge of that making sure we have officers that are at these events in appropriate numbers that can help protect the people that are there,” Williams says.
And he wants you to think twice if you have plans to do anything other than just enjoying these events.
“If you’re coming Downtown to do anything other than enjoy Downtown, I think you should be prepared for some interaction with JSO,” Williams says.
As for any message to the suspect or suspects who are still at large, Williams says only that they’re putting together a good case and should expect to hear from police very soon.
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