JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A community on Jacksonville’s westside was shaken by sirens and screams Friday night after a suspect was shot and killed by police.
“I’m kinda surprised because it’s pretty quiet in our neighborhood here,” Westside neighbor John Ewers told Action News Jax Saturday morning.
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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was called to a fight on Jillian Drive around 7 p.m. Friday night. A nearby patrol officer, Delong Zheng, was the one to respond.
“It was an armed fight with injuries, and while those officers were being dispatched, this officer just happened to be in the neighborhood,” explained Chief Alan Parker with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
When Officer Zheng arrived, investigators say he found a man and woman bleeding on the ground, and the drunk suspect standing over them with two knives in his hands.
Investigators say officer Zheng then asked the suspect to put down the knives, but he refused and went to attack again. That’s when Officer Zheng fired his weapon, shooting and killing the suspect.
“I just don’t understand that at all, strange thing,” said Ewers. “Shouldn’t be going on obviously.”
Neighbors in that westside community told Action News Jax Saturday morning they hope members of their community and Jacksonville as a whole can help avoid any more senseless violence and death.
Read: First Coast Crime Stoppers launches live digital series to spotlight unsolved murders
“Please just, they just need to be safe, calm down, take a breath, live life. Don’t take another life,” pleaded Michael Armsted.
Investigators say both victims are expected to survive.
The 58-year-old suspect hasn’t yet been identified.
This was Officer Zheng’s first officer-involved shooting in his seven years with JSO. It’s JSO’s 7th officer-involved shooting of 2025 so far.
Read: Inmate who died after an incident inside the Duval Co. Jail laid to rest
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