Dozens of Jacksonville shootings since end of July detected by ShotSpotter

For the first time, new technology is showing just how much gunfire is happening in some Jacksonville neighborhoods.

Action News Jax first told you about the gun shot detection software ShotSpotter in 2015. Since then, the technology has been installed in the city.

The ShotSpotter system went live at the end of July. On Tuesday, the Sheriff's Office told us the system has recorded 64 shooting incidents within the neighborhoods it monitors.

Now, dozens of sensors are spread throughout neighborhoods in Northwest Jacksonville, recording gunfire and then alerting officers almost instantly.

“I actually seen it put to use the other day … . A couple young guys were running around shooting guns and within like four minutes, cops was already on the way,” neighbor Tiffany Thomas said.

For Thomas and her five kids, the sound of gunfire has become a part of life.

"A lot of gun shots at night. Mainly about 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning is when they get really bad," Thomas said.

"Sometimes they be bam, bam, bam," neighbor Raymond Wade said.

Wade said he's lived in the neighborhood since the 1950s. Now he and his wife want change.

"She tell me, 'Don’t go to the window,' and she scared," Wade said.

It's a reality that Thomas hopes will be changed by ShotSpotter.

“My kids don’t go out in the yard by themselves. It scares me to death. And I hate it because they love to go out and play,” Thomas said.

The ShotSpotter system covers a 5-mile area in Northwest Jacksonville.

Cox Media Group