By Joanna Putman
Police1
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — During a press conference regarding a triple shooting that killed a 6-year-old boy this week, a Florida sheriff says he can no longer suppress his anger over the amount of shooting deaths in a one-week period, News4Jax reports.
“One murder is one murder too many. But when innocent children are slaughtered as collateral damage to senseless acts of violence, I can’t stay quiet,” Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said.
The triple shooting occurred when bullets struck two children as they slept, killing the 6-year-old boy and injuring his 12-year-old sibling. The shooting happened days after a quadruple shooting that killed a 3-year-old and two adults.
“I vow to you that this agency will not rest until you are held accountable for your crimes. You took the lives of innocent children,” Waters said to the shooters.
Six people were murdered in less than a week, News4Jax reports. This year, 90 people have been murdered in the city of Jacksonville and 25 children have been shot.
During the news conference, Waters demanded a public outcry in response to the killings.
“I’ve stood over too many bodies to ignore how our community is being harmed, not only by violence, but by its response to that violence. There are Jacksonville families who have suffered unimaginable loss – the loss of a child. The families are preparing to bury innocent children and that should not happen,” Waters said.
Last month, protestors gathered in Jacksonville after a racially motivated shooting killed three people in a Dollar General store. Waters questioned why recent shooting deaths had not received a similar response: “Why are they not speaking up? We heard from them a few weeks ago. Why are we not hearing from them today?” Waters asked.