With many families in downtown celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, gunfire breaks out at the Jacksonville Landing, leaving one 16-year-old dead and another teenager hurt.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says two off-duty officers working security at the Landing heard multiple shots fired around 4 p.m. just outside of the Water Street entrance.
Khamoi Petersen died nine days shy of his 17th birthday after he was sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries once officers discovered him on the ground.
A 13-year-old boy who has yet to be identified by JSO has non-life threatening injuries after being shot in the leg. He was also discovered by those same officers around the same time as Petersen.
Investigators believe there was a confrontation between a group of individuals just outside the Landing and that’s what led to the shots fired, but it’s not clear at this point if the shooting was planned or what the motivation was.
JSO Assistant Chief Scott Dingee says investigators are also considering possible connections between this incident and the one nearly two weeks ago where two other teenagers were also shot during Art Walk.
“[That is] based on some of the individuals we know were involved [in both incidents],” Dingee added.
This shooting happened just hours after the annual MLK Day parade in downtown, but police don’t believe there’s any connection to that city-sponsored MLK Day event or the one at Hemming Park following the parade.
Dingee did confirm that investigators will be reviewing security video in and around the Landing as well as interviewing the 30 or so witnesses they could find.
Several people have also been detained by JSO in this incident, but Dingee wouldn’t say what role those people may have had in the fatal shooting.
At least one gun has been recovered by JSO, but detectives do believe at least one other gun was involved and are acknowledging the possibility of multiple shooters.
Some windows at the Landing have been boarded up following the shooting, presumably from the bullets fired.
Assistant Chief Dingee did say JSO had no prior warning a shooting was going to happen at the Landing on MLK Day despite some reported chatter on social media and insisted that the downtown area is still a safe place for people to go.
“Statistically, this is a very safe part of town,” Dingee noted. “The general public has no problem and should feel safe coming downtown to any of our events.”
Having said that, he did note that JSO will be reassessing security moving forward, something he says is done daily throughout the city.
Dana Adkins – the C-E-O of Public House Coffee – says he was in the middle of a staff meeting at his Landing location when he heard the shots go off and that’s when people who were outside started pouring in.
“We had 20 people run in here,” Adkins added. “We had one little 10-year-old that was in the corner, scared to death.”
Adkins says he still thinks the Landing is safe but he’d also like to see a harder line towards teenagers hanging out in the area, especially when you factor in the Art Walk shooting.
Police have not released any suspect information at this time and wouldn’t say at this point exactly how many shots were fired.
Jacksonville Landing Shooting: Shooting scene being worked. Front doors of The Jacksonville Landing are shattered. #JSO #JAX pic.twitter.com/UktngonSIg
— Jax Sheriff's Office (@JSOPIO) January 16, 2017
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