3-year-old child, 2 adults shot, killed at Jacksonville apartments Saturday night

Jacksonville police say a 3-year-old child and two adults were killed and another adult was wounded when gunfire erupted Saturday night at a luxury apartment complex on the city's Southside.

Another adult who was the fifth victim was not injured, according to police.

The shooting happened shortly after 10 p.m. at JTB Apartments at 8876 A C Skinner Parkway off Butler Boulevard — a gated access community.

The five victims had gone to the apartment complex regarding the possible private sale of a dog, Assistant Chief J.D. Stronko of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office told reporters at the scene.

"A dispute ensued in a breezeway between two of the apartment buildings resulting in four of the five individuals being shot. Of those individuals shot, three are now deceased. That includes the 3-year-old child who traveled there with them," Stronko said.

Stronko didn't release any information about the extent of the wounded person's injuries. He indicated the fifth victim wasn't hurt.

Family members have identified the child as Kae’Lynn Marie Matthews. Her grandmother's friend has set up a GoFundMe to help the family.

The fatal shootings come two weeks after Jacksonville reached its 100th homicide this year on Sept. 9. That is nearly a month later than in 2022 on Aug. 14. The city had four other shootings Saturday and early Sunday, one of which also was fatal. Jacksonville is up to 111 homicides this year compared to 118 at the same time last year, according to Times-Union records.

Stronko said witnesses told police two unknown men fled — possibly in a black sedan — immediately after the shootings.

Detectives were interviewing the two living victims as well as witnesses in an attempt to get more information about the circumstances of the shootings, including what the dispute was about.

"The early indication is they did travel here for purposes of conducting a sale of a dog. But it is unknown whether that is going to be the final version of events we get when this all shakes out. But that is what we were told initially," Stronko said.

Stronko said detectives were working to positively identify the victims and notify their families. It wasn't immediately known if some or all were Jacksonville residents, he said.

He did say that three of the adult victims were in their 20s but the age of the other adult was unknown because the person hadn't been identified as yet.

Citing the state's Marsy's Law, Stronko said the Sheriff's Office won't be releasing the names or other detailed information about the victims including their relationship to each other "at this time." That law allows families to keep such information private.

Asked about the apartment where the victims were going to, Stronko said more than one apartment possibly might have been involved and police were in the process of getting search warrants as part of the investigation.

Although currently behind last year's torrid pace, Jacksonville is still projecting another 150 killings. Before 2022's 167 total homicides, 2021 finally saw a substantial decrease to 129, and that followed 2020's highest in total in recent memory at 177. The all-time record is unclear, but The Times-Union has been told there were even more in the 1980s.

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The lowest total since the newspaper has kept track was 86 in 2011, only the second year to record fewer than 100 homicides. The other was in 2010 when 96 homicides were recorded.

At No. 100, 2023's homicides mean 2,302 people are among the city’s casualties since 2006. In the last decade, Jacksonville averages 130 homicides per year, about one homicide every couple of days.

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Anyone with information about Saturday night's quadruple shooting is asked to call JSO at (904) 630-0500 or call CrimeStoppers at (866) 845-TIPS to remain anonymous.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: 3-year-old child, 2 adults killed in quadruple shooting in Jacksonville