JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police say a 64-year-old man was shot and killed Tuesday night. His daughter's Christmas wish is that people responsible for killing her father be put behind bars.
The shooting happened about 11 p.m. on Labelle Street, near McDuff Avenue and West Beaver Street.
The man, identified by family members as 64-year-old Augusto Collado, was taken to the hospital where he died.
Police said there were two men at the door when Collado opened it. The man's wife and grandson were home at the time, but no one else was injured.
The man's grandson, Taylor Crosby, said he tried to help his grandfather after the shooting. Crosby said his grandfather was shot once in the hand and once in the chest. He said the men told his grandfather that they knew Crosby, but Crosby said he doesn't know the two men.
"It's crazy. They need to go out and figure out what's going on in that neighborhood. They need to do something," Collado's daughter, Anita Collado, said.
She said her father was a very quiet man who took care of not only his wife, but his grandson, Taylor Crosby, who lived with them.
Anita Collado said her father moved to the U.S. from Puerto Rico when he was 10, served in the Army, then became a police officer in New Jersey before retiring to Florida.
Crosby said his grandfather moved to Jacksonville about a year ago. He described him as a nice man who worked on computers.
"I really don't know what I should be doing," Anita Collado said. "I want to get him here to bury him here, and I have no idea on how to do that."
Police said both of the men appeared to be in their 20s and one has a shaved head.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said that any time someone knocks on your door, you should be cautious when opening it.
"Any time of the day, when the doorbell is ringing, you want to check, look out and see who is there," Smith said. "(You need) to see if you recognize the person before you open the door. It really doesn't matter what time of the day that is."
According to JSO’s crime-mapping tool, there have been two other homicides this year within a quarter-mile of the house.
"I just wish people would think about what they're actually doing to each other," said one neighbor, who declined to give his name. "Long story short, it's just a continuous thing of people killing."
The house is at a corner of three intersections, which Smith said gave the men multiple ways to get away, but he pointed out multiple street lights around the house. The door also does not have a peephole.
"The way the house is designed, also, even if they look out of the window, because the door is caved in somewhat, they wouldn't be able to see someone just standing directly at the door," Smith said.
The evening after the murder, neighbors didn't want to come outside to talk. A woman would only gave her name as Mrs. G aid she heard the gunfire said she plans to say inside as much as possible until the whoever killed her neighbor is caught.
"I do not sit on the porch; I stay in," she said. "It makes me afraid really.You don't know who you're talking to now. ... I try to tend to my business and leave other people's business alone."
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.