JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – The downtown bar district of Jacksonville Beach was locked down for hours Sunday night after three unrelated shootings that left one person dead and three others hurt.
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Between Spring Break, St. Patrick’s Day and the end of The Players Championship in nearby Ponte Vedra Beach, the area was filled with chaotic crowds Sunday.
Here’s a timeline of the shootings from information provided by the Jacksonville Beach Police Department:
Sunday evening: Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Gene Paul Smith said the incident began with a gathering of 250-400 people in their late teens and early 20s under the pier. Smith said his agency had received a tip about the planned gathering and extra officers were assigned to the area.
7:50 p.m.: Officers broke up the crowd after they began to engage in fights and boxing matches. Smith said as the crowd separated, two young men shot at each other on the boardwalk near 2nd Avenue North. Both were wounded and an innocent bystander was also hit.
Smith said officers witnessed the shooting and immediately tried to catch one of the shooters who ran from the scene and gave medical aid to the injured. He said the response time was “zero.”
8:13 p.m.: A man in a ski mask was seen running past a bar holding a gun and he fired a shot. No one was hit and police later found the gun, Smith said.
8:31 p.m.: Three men were involved in a “disturbance” in the parking lot of a restaurant at the corner of 1st Street North and Beach Boulevard. All three pulled out firearms, but only one fired a shot. A 21-year-old man died at the scene.
8:34 p.m.: Jacksonville Beach police declared an “active shooter situation,” which prompted a lockdown of the businesses in the downtown bar district. “At this time, I decided, based on multiple shooters unknown, based on victims unknown, to issue an active threat alert, to lock down all bars and immediately evacuate the downtown area, because of the unknown circumstances of the shooter,” Smith said.
Sometime later: The shooter who ran from the first scene later showed up at a local hospital with a gunshot wound. The other shooter and bystander had been taken to the hospital earlier by rescue units.
During the incidents: Smith said no officers fired their weapons because they were concerned about the crowd, but they would have, he said, if they thought it was necessary to protect themselves or bystanders.
8 a.m. Monday: Smith gave an update explaining the timeline of the three unrelated shootings, how his officers responded to each and why he called for the lockdown. He said there was little to no response time for each incident because they proactively had officers out patrolling the crowds.
Watch the update from Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Gene Paul Smith in the video below:
8:30 a.m.: Jacksonville Beach PD posted a compilation of videos on its Instagram account, which includes user videos, city surveillance, and video surveillance from businesses. These videos are being used as part of their investigation.
8:44 a.m.: Jacksonville Beach Mayor Christine Hoffman spoke to News4JAX reporter Brianna Andrews after the chief’s briefing, encouraging everyone to be reassured by the quick response of both the police and the businesses that brought everyone inside and locked down their buildings for safety. “Statistically we are a very safe community,” Hoffman said.
Ongoing investigation: As of Monday morning, no arrests had been made. Smith said two weapons and multiple shell casings were recovered from the scenes. Police ask anyone with cellphone video or social media video or any information about the shootings to call the Jacksonville Beach Police Department at 904-270-1667 and ask for the detective section.
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