Police: Man stabbed 2 adult children, set fire to home in Jacksonville's Lakeshore neighborhood

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Police are investigating after they say a man stabbed his two adult children and then set fire to a home in the Lakeshore neighborhood.

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department was called to the fire on Shirley Avenue at 4:52 a.m.

PHOTOS: Man stabbed 2 adult children, set fire to home, Jacksonville police say

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office was called to the home as well to investigate the fire and stabbing. JSO said three adults and three children live in the home.

Police said they were told that a 29-year-old man heard his 31-year-old sister screaming in a bedroom. The man found his sister being stabbed by their father. When the man tried to intervene, the father then began stabbing him.

Neighbors identified the brother and sister as Carlos Rivera Jr. and Kenia Rivera and the father as Carlos Rivera Sr.

"We opened up the door and Carlos Jr. is sitting on the step and blood is everywhere," said neighbor Cathy Jennings, who helped the siblings.

The man and the woman were then able to get the three children out of the home. Neighbors tell police that the children belong to Kenia Rivera and are OK.

Police said the father then set fire to the home, ran a few blocks away and called police to turn himself in.

JSO said the father was covered in blood and had superficial injuries. Everyone involved has non-life-threatening injuries, police said. The hospital said the Rivera siblings are listed as being in fair condition.

"The son and daughter were at our door with six stab wounds is what she said he had, her hand was messed up," Jennings said.

The three children will be helped by Florida Department of Children and Families.

Police are still working to determine what led to this incident. Neighbors say there is a history of police calls to the home since the family moved in three months ago.

A hearing for a temporary injunction for protection was scheduled to be held on Monday morning at 8:15 a.m., according to court records. Carlos Rivera Jr. was listed as the petitioner and Carlos Rivera Sr. was listed as the respondent in that injunction.

Court records also show that Carlos Rivera Sr. filed a complaint for eviction against Carlos Rivera Jr. and Kenia Rivera, claiming that they owed $1,050 in unpaid utilities for the months of March, April and May.

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