A 4-year-old girl is dead, and a toddler and mother are fighting for their lives after being shot on Jacksonville’s Northside Tuesday, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
In a news briefing, JSO Chief of Investigations Michael Paul said officer were called to a reported shooting on Traci Lynn Drive, off of Dunn Avenue, just before 5 p.m. When police arrived minutes later, they found three people with gunshot wounds: a 4-year-old, a two-year-old girl, and their 27-year-old mother.
The 4-year-old was declared dead at the scene, and the other victims were in surgery for life-threatening injuries at the time of the briefing, according to Paul.
Shortly after the shooting, police found the suspect driving a car and took him into custody. He has been identified as the father of the two children.
The shooting is believed to have happened outside, in front of the home. Because there were no known eyewitnesses and the mother was receiving critical care, the sheriff’s office could only say that the shooting was due to a domestic dispute.
The suspect and the victims have not yet been publicly identified by law enforcement.