JSO: 12-year-old boy shot in College Gardens neighborhood

Child taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police say

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 12-year-old boy was shot and injured Friday evening in the College Gardens neighborhood in Northwest Jacksonville, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. At the same time, police were also investigating a shooting into a home on 5th Street.

Officers were called at about 8 p.m. to McMillian Street, just off Kings Road.

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Darius Whatley, 12, initially told police he was walking with Antonio Tyler (his age was not released) near the intersection of 6th and McMillan streets when he heard a gunshot, then noticed he had been shot in the leg. He added that he didn’t see who fired the shot and they continued walking along McMillan Street until someone stopped them and called police.

Whatley then changed his story when investigators spoke to him at the hospital, saying that prior to the shooting Tyler was playing with a gun and it accidentally fired and shot Whatley, officials said.

As the investigation continued, officers continued to investigate a shooting into a home on 5th Street.

The woman who lived there told police she was in her home when her son came home. Immediately after he walked in, she told police that she heard a gunshot and ran to her window. Officers said she later discovered a bullet hole in the side of a bedroom window and a closet door.

Authorities did not identify the woman in the home on 5th Street or her son.

The sheriff's office continues to investigate.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at 904-650-0500 or email JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.


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