JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Five men and two women were injured in five separate incidents of gun violence across the city from Friday through Sunday, according to information from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Police said one man was critically injured when he was shot in the face outside My Place Bar and Grill in Baymeadows around 11:30 p.m. Friday.
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The man, who is in his early 30s, was taken to the hospital, where he remained in critical but stable condition.
According to JSO, the man was leaving the bar when he bumped into two men near the entrance. The encounter escalated into an argument in the parking lot before one of the men pulled out a gun and shot the victim once in the face. Click here for a description of the two men.
Less than 24 hours later, police said, a man in his late 30s called 911 around 8:30 p.m. Saturday to report he had been shot, then drove to a Circle K off 103rd Street, where officers found him with a gunshot wound to his left forearm.
He is expected to be OK, but officers said they could not find the shooting scene.
Then, early Sunday morning, two double shootings were reported within minutes of each other in separate parts of town.
The first in Murray Hill around 3 a.m. Sunday left one woman shot in the chest and another shot in her lower back. Both women are in their early 20s and are expected to survive.
Investigators said the shooting happened during an argument that escalated to a fight at a large party on Murray Drive. JSO said the suspected shooter is in custody.
The second double shooting also happened during a fight around 3:20 a.m. Sunday morning, JSO said.
Investigators said several groups of women were fighting on Bay Street in Downtown Jacksonville, and during the melee, one man was shot in the head and critically injured, and another was shot in the right thigh and is expected to be OK.
“We didn’t hear anything happen, got up in the morning to go for a walk and saw the crime scene all taped up and all the markers...and they’re out there with a metal detective looking for stuff, too,” David Phillips, a visitor, said. “It’s really sad, though.”
News4JAX stopped by several businesses along East Bay Street where they found a window that had been hit by a bullet. Owners said the shooting happened after they had already closed for the night at 2 a.m.
“A lot of crazy stuff happened you’re only on the weekends,” a Cinco De Mayo server said. “And it’s rough for us because normally our man’s not here and we’re only here, only girls. No men, only the people from the kitchen and it’s rough for us because we have to deal with a lot of men.”
They said that they are working with JSO to have more of a police presence on the weekends.
The fifth shooting was a domestic-related incident reported at 9:30 p.m. Sunday when JSO said a man in his early 30s suffered a graze wound to his head in an altercation in a car with his ex-boyfriend.