Murder suspect from a domestic violence incident is shot when he pointed the gun at officers

Jacksonville police shot a gun-wielding suspect multiple times outside a Hyde Park home, where another man was then found dead inside, according to Chief Mark Romano.

Police were called to a shooting at the Westside home in the 2200 block about 1:20 p.m. Monday, and took position outside when they heard a gunshot from within. After a short time, a man came out holding a firearm and refused orders to drop it. Romano said one officer shot him multiple times when the man raised the weapon toward the officer.

The suspect — later identified as 44-year-old Eric Sean Lackey — was taken to a hospital in life-threatening condition, the chief said. Officers proceeded inside, where they located another unidentified man dead. Their relationship and what led up to that shooting were unclear, but it involved some kind of dispute, and on Tuesday the Sheriff's Office said Lackey has been charged with murder.

The arrest report says a female there said something that was redacted happened at 2:30 a.m. and she awoke a few hours before the incident and got into an argument with Lackey over her tablet not being returned by him. She left the home to a safe location and said she was going to call police. Something else then happened that the Sheriff's Office redacted in the report, and she contacted police.

Lackey becomes the 11th person shot by Jacksonville police this year, eight of whom died, according to Times-Union records. That compares to six people shot in 2021, three fatally.

History of domestic violence
Lackey has a history of domestic violence, court records show. He has three prior local arrests including a Nov. 23, 2021, aggravated domestic battery with a deadly weapon on a person 65 or older and failure to appear in court and a domestic battery in 2009.

He had also just gone to court on Dec. 6 for the aggravated-battery case. That incident occurred at the family's Wolfe Street apartment on Nov. 21 last year. The victim was his 67-year-old father, whose last address was listed as the Hyde Park Road home where the police shooting occurred, according to court records.

In the arrest report, his father said his son became irate when he suggested he treat his girlfriend better and then was knocked unconscious and woke up on the floor with blood around him and couldn't remember what else happened. He said his two grandsons and the girlfriend were home at the time.

The father suffered two gashes on an arm, a black eye with a cut underneath, a tooth missing and several teeth broken and a gash on his head. The doctor said he had a broken arm, several facial fractures and needed staples to for the back of his head, according to the arrest report. But he refused to file domestic violence paperwork, and Lackey denied any involvement.