Five Jacksonville sheriff’s officers shot and killed a murder suspect after tracking him down and being fired at first, according to Undersheriff Shawn Coarsey.
The officer-involved shooting began with a double shooting about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 22, at a home in the 8200 block of Susie Street off Old Middleburg and 103rd Street on the Westside. A man and woman were located outside suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were transported to a hospital where the man was in critical condition and the woman died.
Coarsey said almost immediately a person was identified as being involved and already had a warrant for theft. At about 1 p.m. officers tracked him to the 5100 block of Julington Creek Road and blocked his vehicle. He then pointed a gun at officers and fired at least one time.
Officers returned fire, killing him at the scene. Coarsey said a gun was recovered under this body. His name is being withheld until next of kin is notified, but he was 53 years old.
The undersheriff said the suspect knew the victims in the Susie Street shooting. He had a long-term relationship with the woman.
The officers were Sgt. A. Eleftheriadis (nine-year veteran, second shooting), Officer A. Prescott (eight-year veteran, second shooting), Officer V. Whitmore (seven-year veteran, first shooting), Officer J. Walling (three-year veteran, first shooting) and K-9 Officer J. Mulhearn (seven-year veteran, first shooting).
This marks the city’s seventh police shooting of the year, with five suspects killed. That’s ahead of 2025’s pace when there were six police shootings at this time and ended with 17, 11 of which were fatal. That was most since 2008 when Jacksonville officers shot 28 people with 14 dead, according to Times-Union records.
This story has been updated with a minor adjustment.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: JSO: Murder suspect shoots at officers who return fire and kill him
Reporting by Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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