JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — New tonight - a closer look at the chaos that erupted in Jacksonville Beach Sunday night.
A witness shared videos he took when he heard the gunfire and then saw police doing CPR on one of the victims at Sneaker’s Sports Bar & Grill.
Jax Beach Police said three people were hurt and one person was killed in three separate shootings that night. And today, police identified the man who died as 21-year-old James Jones III.
The witness, David Stepp, said it was extremely traumatic.
“Just a rush of people started coming up from the beach, and just screaming about gunshots, gunshots and this and that,” Stepp said. “And shortly after they asked us to go inside the bar, and they locked us all down.”
When Stepp comes into town, he says he visits the Tavern on First Street almost every day. This is where he was when panic took over the Jax Beach streets on St. Patrick’s Day.
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In one of the videos he took from inside the bar, you can see employees trying to keep people out. Stepp said they went on lockdown for about half an hour before they kicked everyone out.
“During that, I heard another shot over here at the Ritz,” Stepp said. “Apparently, someone blew off a gun in the parking lot.”
Soon after, Stepp said he went on his bike when he heard another round of gunfire.
While everyone was running away from the madness, he was going towards it.
“I heard eight or 10 gunshots,” Stepp said. “And I followed the ambulances to the back of Sneaker’s. And that’s when I saw the police trying to resuscitate the man’s giving him CPR as hard as they could.”
READ: Jacksonville Beach shootings: Police identify man killed, release description of suspects
Unfortunately, Jones III died that night.
“It was traumatic, I was a little sketched out,” Stepp said. “I was waiting for something else to happen because it was like the third thing that happened in like 40 minutes.”
Police say the gun violence began after officers broke up a large crowd of teenagers who had been fighting near the Jax Beach pier.
As Stepp was riding around Sneaker’s he found some boxing gloves. In the videos he took, you can also see a large crowd of people outside the bars while helicopters are in the sky searching for suspects.
Ana Skelton was among the crowd.
“It was so scary,” Skelton said. “I definitely think there needs to be more security. I would like to feel protected whenever I’m out with my friends.”
Police are still looking for the suspects. They say they are looking for three young men - two were armed with handguns and one had a rifle or AR type pistol.
If you have any information, you’re asked to call police.
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