Jacksonville police officer shot during attempted burglary investigation

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday released body camera footage from an October evening when police were asked to investigate an attempted burglary. JSO said it resulted in an officer being shot and that the suspect later fell and jumped off the Dames Point Bridge.

The sheriff’s office originally reported that police were called to a home on Old Middleburg Road around 10:50 p.m. on Oct. 2. Police said when officers arrived they were mugged by a man, shot through a front door and punched an officer in the back.

In the video, two shots can be heard as an officer approaches the front door of a home, and the officer groans as if he’s been hit.

“Signal 34! shots fired! Shots fired!” yells the officer.

More gunshots are heard as the officer breathes heavily.

“I’m hit, dude,” the officer says to another officer.

More shots follow.

“Headquarters, we have a vehicle on the run!” says an officer over the radio. “He’s on his way back north!”

Paramedics are called to help the injured officer.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the suspect emerged from a front yard and got into a vehicle belonging to a resident of the home. The injured officer was able to intervene, but the suspect fled in the stolen vehicle.

Officials said the man crashed into a median on the Dames Point Bridge, got out of the car and jumped into the river, where he was seen swimming for a bit before sinking.

Investigators said an autopsy showed the suspect had not been injured by gunfire and his death was ruled an “accidental drowning”.

The JSO dive team said they found a firearm believed to have been used by the suspect at the bottom of the river.

The officer who was shot was treated at a hospital for his injuries.