AR-15 found in trunk of rental car in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police are investigating after an AR-15 rifle was found inside the trunk of an overdue rental car that was abandoned on Jacksonville's Westside.

Employees at the Express Rent-A-Car on Blanding Boulevard said the Chevrolet Impala wasn't returned, so they remotely tracked it to the Mission Springs Apartments on Timuquana Road. There was a bullet hole in one of the doors and the semi-automatic rifle was found in the truck.

Owner Max Wilcox called police.

"With all the shootings that have been going on lately, it's weird when it comes straight to your front door. You see a gun right in the back of the car," Wilcox said.

Wilcox said he turned the gun over to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, and investigators told him the AR-15 was purchased legally. According to the police report, both homicide and aggravated battery detectives were notified about the gun and the car.