Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said he's adding manpower to this weekend's Florida-Georgia football classic following the shooting Sunday of six people on a sidewalk about a half mile from TIAA Bank Field just before the Jaguars game against the Houston Texans kicked off. Police said Sunday they believed the shootings, which left three people with life-threatening wounds, were gang-related. Also over the weekend, a man was found shot to death at a Mandarin apartment complex and a teenage boy was shot and killed on the city's Northwest side. The weekend was the city's most violent since late August, when two were killed and a dozen injured during a Madden NFL video game tournament at The Jacksonville Landing and one teen died and two were injured in a shooting following a Raines High School football game. "More than 600 police will be assigned on game day to secure not only the venue, but the larger footprint of downtown and into the surrounding neighborhoods including those on the other side of the river," Sheriff Mike Williams' statement reads in part. "We will have special resources staged and ready for rapid deployment if needed. Additionally, we are bringing in additional lighting systems to set up along the main thoroughfares." Sunday service just ended at the Act of the Apostolic Bibleway Church on Pippin Street when gunshots began popping just a few hundred feet west of the sanctuary doors on A. Philip Randolph Boulevard. A member there for 50 years, church administrative assistant Barbara Moore said the congregation stayed put until the shooting ended, then looked outside to see some of the injured people lying in front of the coin laundry at the corner. "We saw all the police cars and fire trucks, and we left at the same time," she said. The shooting was in an area where hundreds of football fans park before a home game along the boulevard, side streets and empty lots where stores and homes used to be. And it was a half-hour before the Jaguars game started, so some fans were still walking to the stadium or tailgating nearby. After the game, police offered escorts to people returning to their cars not far from the crime scene. Moore said major crime hasn't been a problem in her Eastside community. The Sheriff's Office's crime tracking site at crimemapping.com/map/fl/jacksonville indicates 54 assaults, batteries, strong-arm robberies, aggravated assaults and aggravated batteries have occurred within a half-mile area around the shooting site in the past six months. A homicide was also reported July 21 in the 1000 block of A. Philip Randolph Boulevard, plus three shooting incidents in that half-mile zone during that same time. "It's quiet. We don't have any problems in this area," Moore said. "It's scary. It's very scary because the children could have been out here playing or going to get in the cars." A neighbor walking out of the food mart Monday across from the shooting scene, now decorated with flowers, said he only had been living in the neighborhood a week when he heard Sunday's shots. The man said he just moved here from Cleveland, his girlfriend here assuring him it was "pretty safe." In fact, he was just heading to the store at 12:30 p.m. Sunday when his stepson stopped him with a question just before shots rang out less than a block away. "I looked and saw the people congregating and I was like, 'Wow, not just when I moved here,' " he said. "Then, I saw people laid out and, man, it was pretty nerve-wracking. ... I hope they solve it." The police provided no new information Monday on the shooting Monday. The food mart was busy Monday afternoon, but the laundry and barber shop on opposite corners were closed and quiet as an "Open" sign flashed at The Avenue Grill a half-block closer to the stadium. Police said Sunday's gunmen were in a gray or silver four-door sedan, possibly a Nissan Altima or Maxima. The victims are five men and a woman ranging from 20 to 70 who have not been identified officially. They were standing in front of the laundry when the gunmen shot at them, Sheriff's Office Director Ron Lendvay said. One was taken to a hospital by private car, while the other five were taken by city paramedics. Lendvay said three victims were critically injured. Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Gaffney, who represents that area, said people are scared, frustrated and demanding more from city leaders and police to stop the violence in the city. He also pointed out that criminals seem not to be afraid of police anymore, since this shooting occurred just blocks from a football stadium with many officers working on and off-duty there. Williams' statement Monday said his department is "diligently investigating" the A. Philip Randolph Boulevard shooting, adding that he does "share the community’s frustration in the violence that is impacting our city. "We will turn the tide on the violence, and we will do it sooner with the community’s help," Williams said. As for the rest of the weekend's violence, one man was hit in the shoulder Saturday morning in a drive-by shooting on Suray Avenue after shots were traded with a passing car, police said. Multiple shots were fired Sunday morning in a shopping center in the 13000 block of Beach Boulevard, multiple cars were hit but no one was injured, police said. Also early Sunday, the Sheriff's Office said officers found a dead man aged 20 to 40, shot multiple times in an apartment at 3200 Hartley Road, making him the city's 99th homicide of the year. Then just before sunset Sunday, a teenage boy was shot and killed in a home in the 2000 block of West 45th Street, it is unknown if the incident was accidental, police said. Anyone with information on any of the weekend shootings can contact the Sheriff’s Office at (904) 630–0500 or email JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org. To remain anonymous and receive a possible reward up to $3,000, contact Crime Stoppers at (866) 845–8477 (TIPS). Dan Scanlan: (904) 359-4549<doc-sep>Six people were wounded, three critically, in a Florida shooting Sunday less than a mile from where the Jacksonville Jaguars were playing, investigators said. The incident might have been gang-related, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The wounded range in age from their 20s to their 70s. The sheriff's office tweeted that someone in a silver or gray four-door sedan fired shots from the passenger seat of the vehicle, and hit the victims as they were standing on a sidewalk on A. Philip Randolph Boulevard — roughly half a mile away from TIAA Bank Field, where the Jaguars were playing the Houston Texans. The sheriff's office said it was escorting fans who'd parked near the shooting scene to their vehicles. As of 5 p.m. ET, no suspects were custody. Gov. Rick Scott tweeted that he spoke with the Jacksonville sheriff and "offered any state resources they may need." "Our law enforcement officers are working hard to keep people safe," Scott wrote. "Please continue to listen to their announcements and updates." Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.<doc-sep>
There was a lot of Jacksonville Sheriff's Office dark blue mixed in with the bright orange and blue of the University of Florida Gators and bold red and black of the University of Georgia Bulldogs at TIAA Bank Field for the classic football rivalry Saturday. The Sheriff's Office deployed about 650 officers in and around the stadium, as well as throughout downtown — including a helicopter overhead and police boats on the nearby St. Johns River — to deter potential trouble and reassure the estimated 82,000 college football fans as well as neighborhood residents the event was safe. The very visible police presence came six days after a half-dozen people were gunned down outside a coin laundry about a half-mile from the stadium. Last Sunday's shooting — a half-hour before the Jaguars-Texans football game — left three people with life-threatening injuries. The Sheriff's Office has said the initial investigation indicated it was gang-related. Saturday, fans from both Florida and Georgia said they weren't concerned because there appeared to be plenty of security. "I feel very safe. I feel like with this game, the importance to the city, that the city is going to do their job as far as security," said Mark Sieron of Jacksonville, a University of Florida graduate and avid Gators fan. Sheriff’s Office Chief Andre Ayoub said this week the 650 officers assigned to the game represented more than a third of the agency's sworn police officers. He noted "that’s how serious we take this event.” Ayoub also said officers will be around San Marco Square and other sites where game-time partying happens. In addition, more lighting will be set up along A. Philip Randolph Boulevard in the aftermath of last Sunday's shooting. Georgia fans Craig and Amanda Swenson of Atlanta said they saw several police officers as they walked to the stadium from a private parking lot along Grant Street — about a quarter mile from the shooting scene. "It looks like cops are all over the place. ... I'm more worried about drunk drivers after the game than afraid of getting shot," Amanda Swenson said. A Gators fan, Melanie Knox of Jacksonville said she's attended the game for years and never witnessed any trouble. "Yes, I feel safe. Police are everywhere," Knox said. Teresa Stepzinski: (904) 359-4075