JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sheriff T.K. Waters addressed the public on Sunday as he announced the third officer-involved shooting in Jacksonville this year, urging residents to understand the dangers officers face and warning against confronting police with firearms.
The latest shooting happened around 6:50 p.m. Sunday near 22nd Street and North Main Street, during a task force surveillance operation following an armed drug complaint.
According to JSO Chief Michael Paul, officers were in an unmarked car when a man approached, walked in front of the car, and pointed a gun at the people inside—apparently unaware they were police officers. Two officers shot at the suspect, and the suspect ran while continuing to fire.
He was shot and taken to a hospital. The officers were not injured.
“I don’t think anyone should walk up to a car and point a gun inside the vehicle. When you do that, you are putting yourself in grave danger,” Waters said. “If it is the police, or anyone else of that matter, this is America, citizens have the right to bear arms. You might pull a gun on a citizen and get shot for doing that.”
Waters stressed that officer-involved shootings are never easy and called it a traumatic experience for law enforcement.
“They take administrative leave, they take time off, they see doctors before they come back to work, it’s an entire process,” Waters said. “For one, we aren’t sociopaths; we’re not crazy people. We just want to serve our community, and that’s what they are doing, and sometimes they find themselves in tough situations. We know that’s a possibility that this is going to happen. We are just glad these guys and the guys from the other cases were able to go home safely.”
The sheriff’s comments came after two other officer-involved shootings happened in Jacksonville exactly one week ago.
Two officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office shot and killed a man Monday night in the Bartram Park area, and the same night across town, three officers shot a man in a separate incident in Arlington, JSO said. He was injured but survived.
“These guys are pulling out guns, firearms, it’s a dangerous world, we are not playing games here. This is not tiddlywinks; this is real life when we are responding to calls and doing police actions. If you show up with a handgun or any kind of firearm, there is going to be a shootout, and you are going to get shot.”
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With the three recent officer-involved shootings involving armed suspects, Waters issued a blunt warning to the public.
“One, I’m glad the police officers are okay, which is the most important thing for us. Number two, don’t pull guns on police; all these situations involved firearms,” Waters said. “We don’t want that happening. Don’t pull guns on the police; you will get shot. If you pull a gun, you don’t have to shoot it first. If you pull a gun on the police, you are going to get shot.”
The State Attorney’s Office is reviewing all three cases, as is standard procedure.
The suspect in Wednesday’s shooting, later identified as Samuel Deondre Cook, JSO said, is a convicted felon with prior arrests for drug sales, possession, and resisting.