JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a man died on Christmas Eve in a shooting outside of a business on St. Augustine Road, several witnesses shared details with News4JAX about the moments leading up to the deadly confrontation.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said an argument between two men escalated to gunfire.
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JSO said the victim was found shot multiple times outside the building about two blocks south of Emerson Street when officers came to the scene around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday.
According to several people with knowledge of what went down but who asked not to be identified for their own safety, the victim and the shooter knew each other, and there was bad blood between them.
While police initially said they had very little information about the suspect, witnesses told News4JAX the shooter was seen running south down St. Augustine Road.
People we spoke with shared the names of both the victim and the suspected shooter, but we’re not identifying them until JSO confirms the names.
Surveillance video from the night of the shooting outside a convenience store at St. Augustine and Brewster roads shows several people gathering around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday outside the corner store.
Between that time and 9:40, nearby neighbors said they heard gunfire at that location.
“When the shots started firing, I could hear the bullets ricocheting off of stuff, then started seeing people run to the front door of the store,” one neighbor said.
At around 9:45 p.m., the surveillance video shows patrol officers pulling up and quickly determining the man was dead after being shot multiple times.
One man News4JAX spoke with said he remembers where the shooting victim was standing before the gunfire.
“He was right there in the corner,” the man said. “Him and a girl. Right there in the corner.”
A friend of the victim said they had known him for about four months.
“I was up here, and I saw when they took his body,” the friend said. “He was a very nice man. He was one of our friends. We used to hang out every day.”
Several neighbors expressed concern about the violence in their community.
“It’s Christmas. What are we doing here? I don’t like that,” another neighbor said. “It’s time to get out of here, as simple as that. We can’t be around stuff like that anymore.”
JSO says they are still investigating the incident and trying to determine whether there was any relationship between the two men, but they believe the shooting was an isolated incident that does not pose a public threat.
The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with information to come forward. You can call the JSO non-emergency number at 904-630-0500, email jsocrimetips@jaxsheriff.org or contact CrimeStoppers at 866-845-TIPS.