JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is investigating a shooting that happened inside what was supposed to be a vacant apartment in Brentwood.
JSO says they responded around 10 a.m. Sunday to 27th Street West after a neighbor living next door noticed the door to the apartment was open.
“The [next door neighbor] woke up, he walked outside, [and] the door was open,” said Sgt Steve Rudlaff of JSO’s homicide unit. “He knows it is a vacant apartment, but people do squat in there, and he saw the individual lying on the floor.”
Investigators say the victim was between 20 and 30 years old and had been shot multiple times, likely with a semi-automatic handgun.
“We don’t know exactly what time the shooting took place; we just know that he was found around 10 o’clock this morning,” Rudlaff said.
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JSO says right now, they’re not sure of the victim’s relationship to those involved.
Denitra Colbert, who has lived in the neighborhood for three years, says squatters in the area are nothing new.
“We actually do have a lot of squatters,” Colbert said. “They usually come in the vacant houses, and then there’s a field over here in this neighborhood, and they’re usually in the field as well.”
She says she normally feels safe, and until now, she hasn’t seen a crime this bad in the area.
“I know it’s bad when the red and white tape goes up,” Colbert said. “It’s kind of scary now. I’m not sure what’s going on.”
JSO is asking anyone with information to please contact them by calling 904-630-0500, through email at jsocrimetips@jaxsheriff.org, or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
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