55 people shot in March, 18 killed: Coronavirus doesn’t slow down shootings in Jacksonville

While Floridians adapt to the new normal with coronavirus concerns and stay-at-home orders, criminals aren’t changing the way they operate.

Even though some of these stories are getting crowded out on the news, violent crimes are still happening in Northeast Florida community, especially Jacksonville. While the stock market, business, traffic and everything else appears to be down during this crisis, crime is not.

In the month of March, the city averaged almost two shootings every day, with at least 18 homicides, according to data compiled by News4Jax.

Sheriff Mike Williams, addressing city council at the end of March, said police had a 4% increase in calls and he saw no drop in violence despite calls for distancing.

News4Jax has been keeping track of JSO emails sent to media outlets confirming active investigations. In March, at least 55 people were shot. Of those, 18 people died. Detectives have announced only two arrests.

For the first three days of April there have been at least one shooting. In that case, police said the victim was expected to survive.

“The criminals are still out doing what they do, causing mayhem, stealing, robbing,” said A.J. Jordan, with the crime-fighting group MAD DADS. He is upset, but not surprised about the number of shootings, despite stay-at-home orders.

“This coronavirus is not stopping the criminals at all,” Jordan added.

[link to www.news4jax.com (secure)]