Florida Officer Fatally Shoots Black Teen After Car Chase

One man is dead and another is in critical condition following a car chase that escalated into an officer-involved shooting in Jacksonville, Florida

On January 5, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office claims one of its officers attempted to pull over a car that was traveling in the wrong direction on Moncrief Road. They say they tried to pull the vehicle over but it wouldn’t stop. 

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The vehicle then crashed into another vehicle before eventually slamming into the base of a pedestrian bridge.

First Coast News reports Officer N.E. Lawson subsequently approached the vehicle and “some sort of exchange that took place” before Lawson fired several times, striking two male occupants in the vehicle.

The two men were taken to the hospital where one was declared dead and the other in critical condition.

Police did not release the identity of the men shot, however, First Coast News learned from the family that one victim was 17-year-old Kwame Jones.

A self-identified relative of Jones, who requested anonymity, emailed NewsOne and wrote that the family is demanding answers from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, claiming reports on the incident contain misinformation.

The family has yet to receive official notification from authorities and they have not had the opportunity to officially identify the teenager, according to the email. The teen’s mother says the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office wouldn’t provide any information and she’s been “turned away being told that no information can be released because an investigation is taking place,” the email said before adding that “what has been reported in the media and what is known in reality are seeming to be two very different things.”

“The simple fact that a 17-year-old boy has been murdered and his own mother hasn’t even been notified is enough to want to raise some awareness and make some noise!” the email’s author wrote.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says they found a rifle in the backseat of their car.

Watch FCN’s news package on the tragic shooting below.