JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has reported a total of nine officer-involved shootings this year, surpassing the total of eight from all of 2024.
The most recent incident occurred on Lenox Avenue about a half mile east of Fouraker Road.
RELATED: Armed man shot, killed by SWAT while trying to get to neighbor’s home after hours-long standoff on city’s Westside: JSO
News4JAX reporter Briana Brownlee asked Sheriff T.K. Waters about the increase in shootings.
“That question belongs to the individuals who put us in this situation. We show up because we are called, which is our responsibility,” Waters said.
He emphasized that officers operate under specific circumstances and rules, and when faced with the need to use deadly force, they do so to protect lives.
WATCH: Press play below for uncut briefing on deadly officer-involved shooting
While the man killed overnight Tuesday was not diagnosed with a mental illness, his family told police that they believe he showed signs of schizophrenia and that he self-medicated with meth and alcohol.
If the man’s family is correct, it would mark at least the third officer-involved shooting this year involving mental health issues.
“You don’t know that at the time. You don’t know unless there is something inside the call information that tells you that a person is having a mental breakdown,” Waters said. “They’re in crisis at the time.”
He noted that situations can put civilians at risk when an armed individual is involved. Allowing someone to get hurt, even a trained civilian co-responder, would be “incompetent,” he said.
“It’s difficult, it’s a difficult thing,” Waters said. “We are asking officers to determine what is in someone else’s mind. So that’s why we have steps, that is why we train and make sure that when these things come up, if it gets to the point of where we have to use deadly force, it’s going to be because it’s necessary and it had to be done at that point.”
In the most recent shooting, Waters and JSO Chief Alan Parker explained that SWAT officers had to use deadly force because the man involved in the hours-long standoff was trying to get to a neighboring home while carrying a gun.
“That gentleman could not be allowed to enter into another residence,” Waters said. “You can not allow him to take a hostage.”
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