Fla. Firefighter Injured in Drive-by Shooting

Several shots were fired at a group of Jacksonville firefighters who were standing outside a fire station Tuesday night.

“It appears the firemen were targeted,” Lt. Jackson Short of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office told the Florida Times-Union. "Because they are firefighters, they were on duty and the area is very well lit from the streetlights at the gas pump area.”

The firefighters were behind Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department Station 28 on Hogan Road about 7:35 p.m. and putting fuel in a ladder truck.

Short said a vehicle drove up and five or six shots were fired before the vehicle sped off. 

A bullet that ricocheted hit a firefighter in the arm. The firefighter was treated at the scene.

Short said that Jacksonville officials see no indication that the shooting is connected to the recent shootings of police officers in Florida and New York.

The newspaper reported that a Jacksonville police officer was shot by suspected car thieves in the morning. 

“This isn’t an incident that firefighters expect to encounter,” Randy Wise, president of the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters said.