JACKSONVILLE, Fla., – Police believe an accidental shooting injured a 7-year-old and 15-year-old Friday night on West 15th Street.
At 10:30 p.m., officers went to St. Vincent's Riverside after two children arrived with gunshot wounds. Police said both were wounded in the lower part of their bodies and are expected to survive.
The children told police they were shot on West 15th Street, very close to homes. Investigators said they are treating the shooting as accidental based on interviews with witnesses and the victims.
Residents who live on the corner of West 15th and Prospect Streets said they heard the gunfire.
"It was real, real loud, it was real close, but I couldn’t pinpoint where it happened at," said a woman who didn't want to be identified. She said she's related to the 7-year-old boy who was shot in the leg.
"He is full of energy. He would always be outside running. He plays football and track," she said.
She described what she saw and heard Friday night.
"I heard a loud gunshot go off. I thought it was somewhere else. And then I ran out, because I heard him cry, because he kept screaming and screaming. And then they checked him and he was shot in the leg," she said.
The father of the 7-year-old boy identified his son as Josiah Ellison, and said he is recovering well at home.
"Once I figured out that he got shot in the leg, it kind of eased my mind that he’s going to be alright. They say the bullet went through and through. It went in on one side of his leg and actually came out and went through his bone," Joseph Ellison said.
Josiah’s father said there were a lot of people inside his home when his son was shot, adding that there are different stories about what happened, and no one knows who pulled the trigger.
“I was really talking to him before it happened. He was playing 'Call of Duty,'” Josiah’s brother, Jaikeim Ellison, said. “I was like, ‘I bet you’re going to die after the next round,’ and he was like, ‘No I wasn’t.’ When I turned around, I looked at the TV and I heard a gunshot. All I could do was get down and try to find somewhere safe to go.”
The mother of the 15-year-old boy who was shot said the two are cousins. She identified her son as Evan Jackson and described what it was like to learn that her son was shot.
"Hurting, depressed. But I thank God... I have a lot of people praying out there, praying for me and praying for him and my nephew," Vernell Jackson said.
Family members said both boys have been treated and discharged from the hospital.
But police want to know where the kids got the gun.
Shortly after the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office sent word that the shooting is believed to be accidental. JSO posted the following tweet.
If you have firearms and children in your home, you need to practice proper firearm storage. Nearly all firearm accidents in the home can be prevented when gun owners take simple precautions. Proper firearm storage is the number one way to prevent accidents. pic.twitter.com/YxOCX7cHq5
— Jax Sheriff's Office (@JSOPIO) December 29, 2018