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Chief Alan Parker said the JSO lieutenant fired four shots at the truck after the two vehicles “came in contact” with each other.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office lieutenant is in the hospital recovering from injuries and a truck driver was detained by police after the officer fired shots at him following an incident where the two “made contact” with each other on I-95 South Monday afternoon, according to a JSO spokesperson.
JSO Chief Alan Parker said the incident happened shortly after 4 p.m. Monday, when a semi-truck driver from North Carolina was driving south on I-95 near Atlantic Boulevard.
An off-duty JSO lieutenant in an unmarked car was on his way home from work when Parker said the two vehicles “made contact” with each other multiple times.
That’s when Parker said the lieutenant got out of the car and shot four times at the truck.
Parker said the bullets hit the truck’s engine block, missing the driver, a man in his 70s. The truck driver was uninjured and was detained by police. Parker said he’s not currently being charged with a crime, and is cooperating with questioning from JSO.
The JSO lieutenant was identified as Lt. Mark Crawford, a 21-year veteran of the sheriff’s office. Parker said this was Crawford’s fourth officer-involved shooting. He was sent to the hospital with an injured shoulder.
Parker said the truck driver did not fire shots at Crawford, and investigators are still working to learn the circumstances leading up to the confrontation.
I-95 South was shut down for hours as police were investigating the scene. Traffic at Atlantic Boulevard is down to one lane as the scene is still being investigated.
Drivers are encouraged to avoid the area for now.