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'We live in a society where we all duck': A cycle of violence involving children in Jacksonville

A 7-year-old boy was shot and a man is dead after a shooting happened during a youth football game in Arlington Sunday evening, according to JSO.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — There were three shootings in Arlington over just one weekend, including one at a youth football game Sunday night killing a man and injuring a 7-year-old child. This cycle of violence is becoming what you might call “normal” – even for Jacksonville children. 

As shots rang out at Lions Field Arlington Football Association, video shows other children ducking.

“We live in a society where we all duck," District 1 Jacksonville City Council Member Joyce Morgan said. "Because let's be real, it doesn't matter if you go to a fast food restaurant, it doesn't matter if you go shopping to a mall. It really doesn't matter where we go in our society, none of us is really safe.“

Morgan said she understands why there is a sense of uneasiness in the community, and she worries most about the youngest generation.

According to First Coast News records, at least 26 children – 18 and younger – have been involved in shootings or stabbings in Jacksonville this year. Seventeen children have been killed.

“[The 7-year-old shooting victim] will remember that the rest of his life, that's gonna be traumatizing to him. Every time he hears a gunshot, it's gonna run back in his head," retired Jacksonville Sheriff's Office detective Kim Varner said.

He thinks safer places for children to hang out with a regular police officer would help.

“I think it may even serve two purposes. I mean, maybe the officer can build a relationship with that community, and the community can also can build relationships with the police," Varner explained. “When you form a relationship with a police officer in a certain neighborhood, the crime decreases.”

Meanwhile, council member Morgan believes Jacksonville can not “police our way out of it", but that it’s a humanity issue.

“I have been called, texted and email by concerned citizens," she said. 

Morgan added they are asking to ramp up the sheriff’s watch program, but she thinks improving things such as the economic development in the community will have a longer-lasting impact.

The District 1 city council member said she will be holding a virtual town hall Monday, Oct. 26, at 6 p.m. to get additional ideas from community members.

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