{"id":157586,"date":"2026-02-16T20:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T20:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/157586\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T20:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T20:34:10","slug":"jacksonville-pastor-calls-for-faith-led-action-after-weekend-teen-violence-at-the-avenues-mall-action-news-jax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/157586\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville pastor calls for faith-led action after weekend teen violence at The Avenues Mall \u2013 Action News Jax"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Following a weekend of chaos<\/a> involving teenagers at The Avenues Mall, a local pastor is mobilizing the community for a faith-led call to action, to ask for more people to step up as mentors.<\/p>\n

On Saturday night, reports of shots fired led to a lockdown at the mall. The panic began after a fight broke out among a group of teens, sending crowds of shoppers running for safety. In the aftermath, at least one vehicle in the parking lot was found with a blown-out window.<\/p>\n

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n

Rev. Korey O\u2019Neal, the program director for Project RISE, said the incident served as a breaking point.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaturday\u2019s incident just ignited something in me,\u201d O\u2019Neal said. \u201cI\u2019m inviting all pastors, all spiritual leaders to come out. We have to do something to save the youth of our city. I\u2019m passionate about it, and I\u2019m making a call and a plea.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neal is organizing a prayer vigil and community rally this Thursday at 6 p.m. at Friendship Fountain.<\/p>\n

\"Prayer<\/p>\n

Prayer vigil being held in the wake chaos at The Avenues Mall Prayer vigil being held in the wake chaos at The Avenues Mall <\/p>\n

He also serves as pastor at New Beginnings Outreach Ministries.<\/p>\n

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n

The choice of location is significant; last summer, the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office had to break up a \u201cteen takeover\u201d at the fountain that involved an estimated 600 to 700 minors. O\u2019Neal hopes that by gathering at the site of past disruptions, the community can find solutions to prevent future crime.<\/p>\n

The call for action comes amid a string of incidents involving local youth, including a knife attack on a school bus and various threats reported at several Jacksonville high schools.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neal was recently honored by the FBI for his work alongside law enforcement to combat violent gang activity. Despite his recognition, he said the mission is deeply personal. As a father of four children, ranging in age from 3 to 18, he is concerned about the environment they are growing up in.<\/p>\n

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His message to the city\u2019s youth is one of accountability and potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a choice of doing what\u2019s right. You have a choice of doing what\u2019s wrong,\u201d O\u2019Neal said. \u201cYou have a choice of having a bright future, or you have a choice of being in a grave or being in a prison for the rest of your life. I believe in you. I hope you believe in you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rally is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday. O\u2019Neal has extended an invitation to all local spiritual leaders, parents, and the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office to attend.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n

Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Following a weekend of chaos involving teenagers at The Avenues Mall, a local pastor is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[344,75500,347,75502,28,348,116,351,118,117,75504,349,75505,75503,350,75501,346,345],"class_list":{"0":"post-157586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action-news-jax","9":"tag-avenues-mall-jacksonville-fl","10":"tag-cbs47","11":"tag-chaos-at-avenues-mall-jacksonville-fl","12":"tag-florida","13":"tag-fox30","14":"tag-jacksonville","15":"tag-jacksonville-fl","16":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","17":"tag-jacksonville-news","18":"tag-new-beginnings-outreach-ministries","19":"tag-northeast-florida","20":"tag-project-rise","21":"tag-rev-korey-oneal","22":"tag-southeast-georgia","23":"tag-teen-takeover-avenues-mall","24":"tag-wfox","25":"tag-wjax"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}