JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 69-year-old Jacksonville business owner was arrested Tuesday afternoon after his home and Westside wholesale store were raided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
William Shepard Ellison, who owns Shep's Discount Furniture on Normandy Boulevard, is charged with two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon after two shotguns were found in his home, according to an arrest report.
Ellison was found guilty in 1990 for solicitation of first-degree murder and pleaded guilty to arson and dealing in stolen property a month later.
Dozens of FDLE agents executed search warrants at Ellison's home on Shady Reach Drive and business Tuesday as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
Officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office were at the home assisting FDLE.
Agents also searched tractor-trailers parked beside the store.
"I love Shep," customer Lisa Futch said. "He's been a pillar to this area, this community. He's a baseball coach. He's a retired fireman. I mean he's a good man. It's driving me crazy to figure out what's going on."
FDLE officials would not say what they were searching for.
"This could be just part -- the first step or the second step in the investigation," News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said. "So they don't want to come out and tell everybody exactly what they're doing, because it may tip people off that they may be attempting to investigate later."
Smith said the FDLE's involvement could point to the possibility of stolen property, drugs, illegal weapons or several other possibilities.
FDLE officials emphasized that the searches were not related to terrorism and that there was no danger to neighbors.
"I"m just really questionable of what's going on and just kind of scared for him, I guess," Futch said.
A longtime customer who showed up Tuesday looking to buy tile said he was disappointed to see the store closed.
"This is bad. I don't know what happened here," Daniel Sizemore said. "It's usually about drugs or weapons or something like that, so who knows? It's got to be something big with all the people that are here."