JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — The Jacksonville Beach Police Department confiscated multiple firearms during gatherings at the beach Friday and Saturday, including handguns and rifles from vehicles “full of rival gang members,” Chief Gene Paul N. Smith said in a release Tuesday.

Police said Friday, during senior skip day, officers recovered two rifles and two handguns from two different vehicles they said were carrying rival gang members from Jacksonville. 

On Saturday, Smith said officers responded to an unpermitted event held by the same promoter who hosted a St. Patrick’s Day event in 2024. 

“We are all familiar with the outcome of that day,” Smith said, referencing the three unrelated shootings that occurred on the holiday last year, one which left a 21-year-old man dead.

However, Smith said the event this year was not the real issue: it was the weapons that were confiscated.

“Even though it was a non-event, we recovered four handguns (one was a realistic replica) from two groups of juveniles under the age of 18,” Smith said.

He added one of the handguns was stolen from a vehicle in Jacksonville Beach a month ago.

“There is no doubt that both Friday and Saturday our officers, along with mutual aid officers, stopped something really bad form happening,” Smith said. “Of course, this was not covered by traditional media because nothing bad happened.”

First Coast News crews were out on the beach Friday, speaking with people participating in senior skip day and another event promoted online marking the last day of spring break.

Some high school seniors told First Coast News they were at the event to have fun and didn’t want to be associated with past violence.

“Of all the kids who attended senior skip day, 99% of them were just enjoying the beach,” Smith said in a post on Facebook Tuesday. “But unfortunately, that 1% would have turned a senior skip day into a tragedy.”

Smith said additional “Spring Surge” personnel will be out for the next four weeks as officials anticipate busier days with warmer weather and more spring break visitors.

“We have been warning anyone who plans to violate the law not to come here because we’ll be waiting for you,” Smith said.