Neighbors describe the murder suspect captured on the Westside as a "constant problem."
Chad Absher was taken into custody on Wednesday. He's suspected of shooting of two sisters early Tuesday. His ex-girlfriend Ashlee Rucker was killed in the shooting. Her sister Lisa, who was shot in the mouth, has woken up from a coma.
It was a standoff that lasted for hours Wednesday. With an all hands on deck approach, police blocked off sections of 118th Street. Jacksonville sheriff's officers used robots to give them a closer view and K-9s to help assist them in the search.
In a matter of minutes, Action News Jax was the only news station there as police arrested 32-year-old Chad Absher.
“They caught him underneath my friend’s house, so it kind of freaked me out a little bit,” Tiffany Rist said.
Rist lives just down the street from where Absher was caught and is relieved he’s in jail.
“I was scared, because he could have hurt other people and killed other people," Rist said.
Officers said he shot and killed his girlfriend and shot her sister in the mouth early Tuesday morning.
“He was a bad, he was a bad dude,” Tom Cain said.
Those are strong words from Cain, who lives upstairs from the sisters. He says he heard the gunshots.
“Later on, about 2 o’clock in the morning, we heard some noise, I thought, it was somebody hitting something with the hammer, but I guess it was the gunshots,” Cain said.
For more than 24 hours, Absher was on the run. Police released his name and mug shot asking the public for help in finding him.
Action News Jax crime and safety expert Ken Jefferson says it was the tips that helped police end things smoothly.
“This is very rare that a person would just throw their hands up and surrender, knowing that the house is completely surrounded and they have nowhere to go, and they’re willing to be taken into custody,” Jefferson said.
Cox Media Group
