San Marco Library put on lockdown after group of teens tried to attack man inside

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The San Marco library was put on lockdown Thursday afternoon when a group of teens tried to attack a man inside.

A library spokesman told Action News Jax a group of teens got so violent that security was forced to lock up the entire building to keep anyone from getting in or leaving.

Rachel Burke spends a lot of time at San Marco Library.

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"I was locked in the library for my own safety," Burke said.

Her time spent at the library was cut short when a group of teens from Daniel Memorial Mill House walked inside.

Jacksonville Public Library spokesman Chris Boivin says the violence started when a man asked the teens to lower their voices.

"The first we heard of it was when the customer who came up to us said these kids are really bothering me using some nasty language and being very disruptive," Boivin explained.

"All he did was ask the security officer in the library to ask the boys to be quiet," said Burke.

Burke says the situation escalated and the teens were forced to leave the library and the doors were locked.

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At one point, the man involved in the altercation pulled out a knife and then things escalated further.

"One had a brick in his hands, he was trying to break the glass, the others were trying to break the glass with their fist," said Burke.

A spokesman with Daniel Memorial Mill House told Action News Jax the teens were on a field trip when the incident happened.

"I asked the one woman, she was yelling I don't get paid enough to do this. She was like I get paid $10 an hour this is crazy. This is probably my last day," Burke said.

According to its website the group home is for troubled teens who have more than just behavior problems.

Daniel is reviewing the entire incident to determine if any changes in our existing policies and procedures need to be made.

The children involved will receive appropriate professional counseling about what happened and the decisions they made.

Burke says people inside the library were let out once the teens left and followed the man to a Panera

Bread nearby, where police eventually showed up.

Cox Media Group