JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Northside Jacksonville neighborhood is sounding the alarm after a string of BB or pellet gun attacks on cars, with parents warning the shots are getting closer to their children.
One recent incident targeted resident Richie Ramirez, who was driving eastbound on Hemlock St. when he thought he ran something over.
His 5-month-old daughter, Cecilia, was asleep in her car seat when a sudden crack hit the side of his Tesla.
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“I heard something. I thought it was glass… kept going and didn’t stop,” Ramirez said.
He didn’t realize what actually happened until his mom spotted a dent in the rear passenger door — just inches below where his daughter’s head would have been. Photos show the impact point lined up directly with her car seat.
The police report confirms the damage “appears like it could have been caused by a pellet gun.”
“The size of it seemed like it was close to where they were shooting from,” he said. “We didn’t know if it was a gunshot or a pellet gun, and that’s why we contacted JSO.”
But getting help, he says, has been difficult.
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“All we get told is report it. But there’ve been multiple… if it was one or two, understood. But now it’s more than four, I believe,” Ramirez explained.
Neighbors in the community Facebook group shared similar stories — with several saying the shots almost always happen at night, as drivers turn into the neighborhood. One parent, who declined an on-camera interview, shared a photo of her shattered window. She says her daughter was inside the car when it was hit.
Another neighbor, Ricky Rivera, says he now approaches the entrance cautiously every time.
“It’s definitely a concern with the 5-month-old baby. I have a 5-year-old as well,” Rivera said.
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“I’m always aware. Anytime I pass by there, I’m always looking. I know it’s been happening at nighttime.”
Parents say their biggest frustration is the fear that nothing will change until someone gets seriously hurt.
Ramirez says the idea that “kids could be playing around” doesn’t match the danger families are facing.
“That was not my concern,” he said. “My concern was that it could be kids in the back seat. If it would’ve been an inch higher, it would have hit my daughter in the head — because that’s where her car seat was at.”
Residents say they have asked for additional patrols at the neighborhood entrance, where most of the incidents appear to be concentrated.
JSO says the cases remain active and under investigation.
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