Former defense attorney for man who tried to enter school with ax says he had ‘severe mental illness’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More details have come out about the 37-year-old man who attempted to enter a Jacksonville elementary school with an ax Friday afternoon.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office identified Eric Hurley as the person who tried to gain entry to Ruth N. Upson Elementary School and was shot by a Duval County Public School officer, leaving him in critical condition.

A report said Hurley was shot by a DCPS officer after refusing commands to drop his weapon.

Court documents show Hurley had multiple mental health evaluations. News4JAX spoke with his former defense attorney, Gene Nichols, who shared this statement regarding Hurley’s mental health.

“Eric suffered from severe mental illness and was well on his way to living a life managing his illness and his life. Clearly, Eri’s life took a tragic turn. I am thankful for all the people who tried to help Eric over the years. I am more thankful no children at the school were hurt,” Nichols said.

According to Shannon Schott, an attorney unrelated to Hurley’s case, Hurley was taken off probation on October 4 and was set to graduate from mental health court days after the incident at the school, which prompted a school lockdown.

Maria Fann said her daughter is a fifth grader at the elementary school.

“In the eyes of my daughter, she didn’t know if she was going to survive because she didn’t know why the lockdown was happening,” Fann said.

Hurley’s background includes armed robbery and grand theft charges from 2018. Court records also show multiple mental health reviews, and he was deemed incompetent.

Based on Hurley’s background, someone might question why he was back on the streets, to begin with.

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“I think we need to be very careful making any assumptions that something went wrong when it comes to the court system,” Schott said. “Our local court system intervened and provided him very important supervision and access to resources that got him stable and got him to a really good point. The failure occurred when he was left to his own devices, and he couldn’t have that support system.”

Fann said she didn’t know how to feel learning about Hurley’s past.

“It seems like on the surface he’s done what he’s supposed to have done, but it’s really scary that he went through treatment and it doesn’t seem to have resolved any issues,” Fann said.

Schott suggested legislators and community leaders should work to find solutions about what works when it comes to managing mental health.

“At the end of the day, criminal defendants are human beings, sometimes they go to prison forever, but the majority of the time, these individuals come back into our communities. We really need to make sure that we as a community, remember that they are human beings -- especially when they’re struggling with mental illness -- that they are given an opportunity and resources to make sure they continue to stay on the right track,” Schott said.

Both Fann and Schott are grateful this situation wasn’t any worse and that the students are okay.

Hurley is charged with aggravated assault on law enforcement, trespassing on school property with a firearm and assault with a deadly weapon.

Murray Hill Church let people in the community sign a thank you banner Saturday for the teachers and staff at the school and plan to present the banner Monday morning.


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A Florida-born, Emmy Award winning journalist and proud NC A&T SU grad