JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man was shot in the shoulder during a shootout in a Northwest Jacksonville neighborhood Wednesday, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
A man told police he was accosted by two men -- one armed with a hand gun -- and shot one of the men outside a home on Barry Drive South in Northwest Jacksonville.
Police said they were called to 2427 Barry Dr. S. about 10:05 a.m. because of a reported shooting.
The victim told police that during the altercation with the men, he was able to arm himself with a handgun and exchanged fire with the men. One of the men was hit in the shoulder. He is in custody and has non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The other man fled after the shooting and police are searching for him. It's unclear if the man who fled was the one with the gun, police said. A detailed description of the man has not been released yet.
A home across the street and two vehicles were hit by stray bullets, but no one else was hurt, police said.
"We don't believe there is any imminent threat to any of the other residents that are currently here," JSO Asst. Chief Tony Davis said.
John Bright said he witnessed the shooting while working on a utility pole in the neighborhood. He said he heard some commotion coming from down the street and then suddenly there were gunshots.
"I was scared to death! Up high, strapped to a pole, vulnerable, anything could have happened," Bright said. "(A) stray bullet could have got me. I was fearing for my life."
Bright said he immediately tried to loose himself from the ladder he was on to get down because he was scared.
"I'm out here trying to work and have to deal with something like this?" Bright said. "The last thing you think of going to your job is 'I'm going to get shot.' You just like to work (and) go home to your family as safe as you can."
Mr. Williams, who did not give his first name, said he was lying in bed in a nearby house, when he heard the gunshots, too. He came outside to find his SUV and garage had been hit by bullets. He said his children usually play in the den just beyond the garage door. He said he wasn't going to let them leave the house because of bad grades but changed his mind Tuesday night and let them stay at a friend's house.
"If I had stuck to my word and made them stay here, then I know they would have been in that room when that bullet came through the room," Williams said. "God knows what he's doing. You can't outplay him. You can out think him. Gotta give him praise."
A woman, who asked not to be identified, said one of the men involved is her daughter's father. She said she's never letting her daughter come back to the neighborhood.
"It's just crazy," she said. "All the craziness needs to stop."
This is the third shootout on Jacksonville streets in the last week. The first one, involving police, was in Brentwood on March 12. A burglary suspect was shot. The other one was on the Westside on March 13, when a man who shot first was wounded by return fire.
Williams and Bright agree -- they're sick of the senseless fighting.
"It means they don't care about anybody on the street," Bright said. "There could have been kids playing. They were going to do what they were going to do."
"It's just time for it to end," Williams said. "You got to realize that your life has value and just out here shooting for no reason; it's just dumb."
The victim in the Barry Street incident is cooperating with police. It's unclear if the victim, who was not injured, knew the two men. Police said the victim is not facing charges for the shooting, but the investigation is ongoing.