JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A family spoke for the first time Sunday about the officer-involved shooting last week that left their loved one dead.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says 23-year-old John Parker ran from the car that had been pulled early Tuesday morning for having a broken tail light. After tackling Parker, officers said he pulled a gun and fired four shots at them. Police say officers then fired 11 shots, killing Parker.
Police said Parker was a member of one of the most notorious gangs in Jacksonville and records show Parker had several previous arrests for drugs, burglary, possession of a weapon on school property, resisting arrest and battery on a law enforcement officer.
But at a viewing in Mixon Town on Sunday, his sister said Parker had been in some trouble when he was younger, but he had changed.
"He wasn't affiliated with any gangs, but you know, people make mistakes and may have been, you know, mistakes when he was younger," said his sister, Gianna Parker. "But as an adult he was really on the right path and trying to be on the right path and get his life together."
Parker is the son of a corrections officer at the Duval County jail.