JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A rising and concerning trend known as \u201cteen takeovers\u201d is gaining traction across Northeast Florida, drawing large, unsupervised crowds of teenagers and sparking serious safety concerns from law enforcement and the community.<\/p>\n
One such gathering happened Saturday night near Friendship Fountain in Downtown Jacksonville\u2014just an hour after the city\u2019s family-friendly Silent Disco wrapped up. The Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office responded around 10 p.m. and quickly broke up the crowd of nearly 700 teens, many of whom had coordinated the event through social media.<\/p>\n
Teen witnesses described the scene as chaotic and dangerous.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <\/b><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt looks very unsafe. A lot of people could\u2019ve got hurt,\u201d said Malayia Royal, a local teenager who was not part of the event.<\/p>\n Her sentiment was echoed by her sister, Marlon Royal, who added, \u201cMe personally, I would not be part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Video posted to TikTok shows a large group running in various directions, with sirens blaring in the background. JSO reports that some individuals were fighting, using drugs, and even pepper-spraying each other during the chaos.<\/p>\n \u201cI think a lot of people think this is funny to do things like this. Not thinking about the fact that there are a lot of people in danger,\u201d said Malayia.<\/p>\n JSO confirmed that one juvenile was arrested after attempting to flee. When officers caught up to him, they say he reached for a backpack\u2014later found to contain a firearm.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThere should be some type of subdivision out here,\u201d said Shannon Royal, a concerned parent, emphasizing the need for better oversight and safer outlets for youth.<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s incident mirrors a similar takeover-style gathering at the Orange Park Mall earlier this month, where Clay County deputies had to intervene and disperse a large crowd.<\/p>\n To manage the crowd and prevent further disruption Saturday night, officers closed surrounding roads, including the Main Street Bridge.<\/p>\n Still, community members like Shannon Royal believe there\u2019s an opportunity to turn these events into something constructive.<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: <\/b>Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/b><\/a>] <\/b><\/p>\n \u201cMaybe we can turn this teen takeover into something a little bit bigger in Jacksonville\u2014maybe it could be something more positive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Royal, a mother of seven, is already taking action. Through her organization, SK8HERS Inc., she aims to provide youth with a positive, safe environment that combines her passions for nursing, roller skating, education, and empowering young girls.<\/p>\n \u201cIt should be something a little bit more organized,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n JSO is urging parents and guardians to speak with their children about the risks of participating in these unregulated gatherings. Law enforcement stressed that these so-called \u201cteen takeovers\u201d are not only illegal but pose significant dangers to everyone involved.<\/p>\n There is a Jacksonville curfew ordinance where children under the age of 18 may not be out in public after 11:00 p.m. on weeknights or after midnight. On weekends, unless accompanied by an adult or participating in a permitted activity such as work.<\/p>\n Click here<\/b><\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A rising and concerning trend known as \u201cteen takeovers\u201d is gaining traction across Northeast Florida,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":98441,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,64445,3188,723,64443,11561,7310,13040,64448,8423,425,64446,21783,21782,64442,64444,64447,60054,2397,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-98722","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-clay_county","10":"tag-fl","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-friendship_fountain","13":"tag-jack","14":"tag-jacksonville","15":"tag-jacksonville_sheriff","16":"tag-js","17":"tag-jso","18":"tag-local","19":"tag-main_street_bridge","20":"tag-nicholas","21":"tag-nicholas_brooks","22":"tag-northeast_florida","23":"tag-orange_park_mall","24":"tag-skate_hes_incorporation","25":"tag-takeover","26":"tag-tiktok","27":"tag-united-states","28":"tag-united-states-of-america","29":"tag-unitedstates","30":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","31":"tag-us","32":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114929518737003245","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}