JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — New information was released Monday in three unrelated shootings that happened in Jacksonville Beach Sunday night during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
The Jacksonville Beach Police Department said at a news conference they had prepared for a previously advertised large gathering of teens underneath the pier on Sunday. Here’s a timeline of events provided by Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Gene Paul Smith:
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Around 7 p.m.: Around 250-400 teens gathered and were fighting and boxing before police scattered the crowd.
7:50 p.m.: The first shooting near the boardwalk and the Best Western ensued, where two victim-suspects shot each other and an innocent bystander. All three survived but are recovering from gunshot wounds. Officers were already present and on the scene since they were disbursing the crowd on the beach.
8:13 p.m.: The second shooting happens. Police watched a man wearing a ski mask run past the Ritz bar with a pistol and fire it. Police ran after the man, but he eluded them. No one was injured in the second shooting. A pistol was recovered in that shooting.
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8:31 p.m.: One person, a 21-year-old man, was killed in a third shooting outside Sneakers Bar. Three suspects all pulled out their guns and one opened fire.
“It was like 11 shots like, boom, boom in the face, and the guy just fell,” recounted Ginell Glover, who saw the shooting happen. “He just, he just fell … his homeboy started crying over him. And I’m just like, dang, I wish I could pray for him.”
At this time, based on the multiple unknown shooters, police locked down all bars and evacuated downtown Jacksonville beach. Once the bars were locked down, their main priority became escorting people away and locking down the scenes.
Before they could investigate the crime scenes they had to make sure the security of the scenes was maintained. SWAT team mobilized to help find the shooters.
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8:43 p.m.: All command staff, SWAT team, and investigators were called in.
9:12 p.m.: JBPD posts on its Facebook page that a shelter-in-place order is in effect.
10:54 p.m.: An update to JBPD’s original Facebook post says the shelter-in-place order has been lifted.
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“I’m angry, of course, that people brought this violence three times over to our community. And I do feel that it was brought to our community, not from our community,” said Jacksonville Beach Mayor Chris Hoffman on Monday.
There have yet to be any arrests made in each of the three shootings. Action News Jax will update this article as new information gets released.
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