JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Within hours of Sheriff John Rutherford's announcement Tuesday of his plans to change the culture of violent crime in the city, shots rang out in three different parts of Northwest Jacksonville.
The sheriff joined with local community pastors to announce a Prevention, Intervention and Enforcement plan, or PIE, that aims to stem the flow of youngsters into local gangs.
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Hours later, separate shootings left three victims injured -- two of them were in critical condition.
The first shooting happened Tuesday evening near 13th Street and Palafox Street, about two blocks from Susie E. Tolbert Elementary School in the Grand Park area.
Police said a man was walking on West 14th Street when a vehicle drove by him, then turned around and fired multiple gunshots at him.
The man was shot in the leg and was taken to UF Health for medical treatment, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
There were multiple witnesses and they are all being cooperative and speaking to police.
Not long after that shooting, police said a man was dropped off at UF Health with a gunshot wound to the abdomen that left him in critical condition.
Officials said that the shooting took place at a home on the 4000 block of Colchester Avenue in the Sherwood Forest area of Northwest Jacksonville.
According to police the Gang Task Force and Violent Crimes Task Force are investigating that shooting.
In another incident, a 41-year-old man was shot twice in the arm and once in the thigh on Stuart Street near Golfair Boulevard and 31st Street police said. After he was shot, the man ran to the on-ramp on Interstate 95 South and Golfair Boulevard to get help from an officer, who was in a marked patrol car monitoring construction on the interstate.
The victim was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police are investigating the shootings. They said it's unclear if any of the shootings are related to any other recent shootings. They have no suspect information on the shooters.