JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three people, including a 3-year-old, were killed Saturday night in a shooting at the JTB Apartment complex on A C Skinner Parkway on the Southside, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said.
News 6 partner WJXT-TV reported that JSO responded to the area around 10 p.m. Saturday after someone reported a shooting.
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When officers arrived, they found four people with gunshot wounds.
Assistant Chief J.D. Stronko said it’s unclear why the five people traveled to the complex, but detectives were told it was possibly to buy or sell a dog -- when there was a disagreement.
“We have just about as many questions regarding this incident as you do right now and it’s very early,” Stronko said. “All of our detectives are talking with the living victims and the witnesses.”
Four of the five people who showed up together were shot, according to JSO. Three of the people died, including a 3-year-old child.
JSO did not release the relationships of the victims, citing Marsy’s law.
No arrests have been made, but JSO said officers are looking for two men who were seen leaving the scene in a dark-colored vehicle.
MAD DADS, a local anti-crime group, identified 3-year-old Kae’Lynn Marie Matthews on its Instagram as the little girl who was killed.
Rachel, a resident at JTB Apartment complex, described what she heard Saturday night.
“I was laying in bed and heard the pop, pop, pop. It was five or six gunshots, and I heard screaming,” Rachel said. “I was petrified for them. I really don’t expect this to happen. You hear about gunshots, especially around Jacksonville but you don’t assume it’s going to happen in your backyard, especially in a safe neighborhood.”
According to News4JAX records, 21 children have been shot in Jacksonville this year with seven of those shootings resulting in death.
According to JSO’s crime mapping tool, from April to now, 30 crimes were reported in a half-mile radius of the shooting. The most reported crime was motor vehicle theft.
Retired JSO director Tom Hackney, who has worked on many investigations, said that the officers who are working on this one have a lot of work to do.
“You know in a case like this, this is a who done it,” Hackney said. “You have to kind of piece this back together with multiple victims, each one of those victims and the level of forensic examination that goes with the crime scene, it’s just extensive.”
And Rachael said she is still afraid after this shooting but her biggest concern is the family of those who were shot.
“My prayers go out to the families,” Rachel said. “It’s really sad.”
Anyone with information that can help with this investigation is asked to call the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office non-emergency number at 904-630-0500 or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.