JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — People living in Jacksonville’s Brentwood neighborhood are reacting to their neighbor allegedly shooting and killing a man who police say might have been breaking into his house.
When Toni Simmons opened her door Thursday morning, she was surprised by what she saw.
“It was like a Christmas tree,” said Simmons. “There were detectives, homicide, police cars, everywhere was roped off.”
Just before 4 am, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office received a call that a man had been shot multiple times on North Pearl Street.
“What we know now is that the individual was involved possibly in a burglary at the residence at the time of the incident, and the homeowner, in defense of himself, shot the person inside his home,” said Sergeant Highfill with the JSO Homicide Unit.
JSO investigators said they detained the homeowner and are now investigating whether the man actually got inside of the home. Toni Simmons said this isn’t the first time someone tried to break into her neighbor’s house.
“The gentleman’s home had been broken into 2 or 3 times in the past month,” said Simmons.
“I know that he was quite upset about it. I would be too. But it’s just sad somebody had to lose their life for being stupid.”
Action News Jax did reach out to JSO for the incident report and the calls for service for the house where the incident happened. At the time of this publication, we are still waiting for those documents.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
JSO said the homeowner was detained, but it’s unclear if he will face charges due to Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law.
“Essentially, at the end of the day, someone who is faced with a threat of force or actual force can exercise some manner of force in response to that,” said Defense Attorney Chris Carson. “So long as it’s reasonable and so long as other things are met.
Carson said under state law, a person standing their ground has to be in a “dwelling or residence in which the person has a right to be.”
JSO said that during Friday morning’s deadly shooting, the homeowner was inside of the house, but officers could not verify if the person killed ever made it inside the house. We asked Carson if that detail could make a difference in determining if this incident falls under Stand Your Ground; he said it may.
“Depending on where the individual was located, that may actually have significant bearing on the legal analysis in terms of how police are going to exam whether the individual is justified in doing what they did,” said Carson.
JSO has not released the name of the homeowner or the man killed in this incident.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Action News Jax Top Stories