Witnesses: Shootout behind Panda Express at busy Jacksonville shopping center

Multiple witnesses have described a shootout that happened behind the Panda Express on Beach Blvd. near Hodges Blvd. midday Sunday.

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According to witnesses, two people were seen shooting at each other behind the restaurant in a busy shopping center that includes a Walmart, First Watch restaurant and Nothing Bundt Cakes.

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, at 11:36 a.m. officers responded to the scene of 13460 Beach Boulevard in reference to a dispute outside where shots were fired.

PHOTOS: Bullet damage from shootout at Beach Blvd. businesses

Police said the suspect fled the area.

Several bullet cases were seen in the parking lot. JSO said no one was injured in the shooting.

A man who lives nearby described hearing 10 to 15 shots.

One man told Action News Jax that he and his family were in front of the restaurant when they heard the shots and there is now a bullet hole in his wife's car.

"Next thing I know my wife says 'Hey he's pulling out a gun ... and I said, let's get down, get down on the floor. Then all I heard were shots,'" witness Tom Medlock said.

Another witness, Jennifer Nickelson, was at First Watch when the shots rang out near the busy restaurant.

"We didn't know if we should go inside further away from the windows because we didn't know where they were at," Nickelson said.

Action News Jax arrived at the scene before the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, but a busted-out window at the Nothing Bundt Cakes store appears to be the result of a stray bullet.

The JSO aggravated battery unit is conducting the investigation.

Cox Media Group