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Jacksonville Sheriff's Office releases video of May 26 police shooting

story June 15, 2024
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Video from a security camera and a police body camera captures the latest fatal Jacksonville police shooting, which followed a brazen volley of fire in the middle of a busy street on a Sunday afternoon.

In keeping with Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters' revised policy to release portions of officers' body cameras within 21 days of a shooting, he and Division of Professional Standards Director Mike Shell posted their “Critical Incident Briefing” on facebook.com/JacksonvilleSheriffsOffice.

The May 26 police shooting was the third involving the sheriff's office in five days.

Shell reiterated that these investigations include multiple interviews and hours of body camera footage and forensic analysis, and are only a preliminary phase of final findings between the sheriff's office and the district attorney's office. It also recommends viewing the footage with caution because it involves the murder of a man and profanity.

The videos released Friday came from two surveillance cameras at a nearby business and the officer's body camera, but Shell said the officer did not immediately activate his camera, so the shots were not visible on the footage.

When and where did this Jacksonville police shooting take place?

The most recent police shooting occurred on May 26 at a traffic light in the 3600 block of North Main Street at the corner of East 27th Street.

Who was shot by police in Jacksonville on May 26?

Ray Anthony Ross, 30, died shortly after being shot during the altercation. The sheriff's office said he had a long local criminal record.

Who were the Jacksonville officers involved?

Only one officer, Brian Rone, was on the scene at the time of the shooting. The sheriff's office said Rone is a 16-year veteran and this was his first shooting with police.

What happened in the police shooting in Jacksonville on May 26?

It started around 3:45 p.m. when the driver of a black sedan stopped at the intersection. The video shows him getting out and getting back in as the vehicle continued to drive. Another man got out on the passenger side and fled. At the same time, the driver's door opened and “some sort of struggle ensued between the driver and a person in the back seat,” the sheriff's office said at the first press conference.

The driver, identified as Ross, then began firing multiple shots at the vehicle. “Almost simultaneously,” Rone happened to drive by and saw the man firing at the vehicle and told him to drop the gun, the sheriff's office said. But he continued firing at the vehicle, so Rone fired several shots at the suspect, hitting him. He ran into a parking lot where he collapsed.

The person in the back seat, Ross' 37-year-old half-brother Joseph Antonio Rose, was not shot but screamed afterward that Ross was trying to kill him but that he loved him. He had to be forcibly dragged from the car, then lost consciousness and had to be awakened with NARCAN for an apparent drug overdose, according to the sheriff's office. He was charged with resisting an officer without violence.

It turns out that they got into an argument at the traffic lights and that's where it all started. No one else was shot.

What evidence was found?

In the video, Ross is seen with the gun and then again with it on the sidewalk next to him as he collapsed after the gunshot wound.

The sheriff's office said investigators found another gun in a bag in the car. Shell did not mention drugs.

What happens next in the Jacksonville police shooting case?

The District Attorney's Office will conduct an independent investigation of the case to determine whether the officers' actions were lawful. The Sheriff's Office will then initiate an administrative review, including its internal Response to Resistance Review Board, which will hear the officers' testimony and determine whether policies were violated. The Sheriff will make a final decision on any recommendations, which could lead to reprimands or additional training.

How many police shootings have there been in Jacksonville this year and last year?

Jacksonville sheriffs have shot and killed three suspects this year, with this being the first fatality. In another Jacksonville incident in which a sheriff's officer who was part of a U.S. Marshals Service task force failed to fire his weapon, a St. Johns County deputy marshal and deputy shot and killed the suspect.

Last year, Jacksonville police shot and killed 13 suspects, nine of them fatally. By this time last year, there were seven police shootings with six fatalities.

What happened in the two police-involved shootings on May 21?

In the first attack on May 21, 45-year-old Charles Curtis Guernsey was injured at 11151 W. Beaver St., the sheriff's office said.

The sheriff's office said it began when a motorist called 911 shortly before 1 a.m. to report that another driver had pointed a gun at him in a fit of rage near Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and Interstate 95. The man pulled in front of him in a large pickup truck, slammed on the brakes and then pointed a gun at him and threatened to kill him as he pulled alongside the truck.

After calling 911 and providing the truck's license plate information, he saw some police officers standing on the side of the road and reported them. Officers tried to stop the truck, but the driver kept driving and a chase ensued. It lasted about 25 to 30 miles across town from the east side to the west side and speeds exceeded 100 mph, the sheriff's office previously said.

The Florida Highway Patrol also joined the pursuit and attempted to stop the suspect, but his vehicle was too large. Sheriff's officers set up stop poles around Interstate 295 and Commonwealth Avenue, which flattened the truck's tires. Guernsey was able to continue driving with the tires losing air to West Beaver Street, where an officer eventually forced the vehicle to stop, the sheriff's office said. When the suspect jumped out of the truck to flee, Officer Stephen Hicks shot him.

The sheriff's office later said no weapon was found in the truck. Guernsey was released from the hospital on charges of fleeing or eluding police officers with disregard for the safety of others and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill. He remained in the hospital as of Friday, according to jail records.

In the next shooting that same day, which is not considered an actual shooting by Jacksonville police, Nelson Fabian Marrero Jr., 44, died outside the Circle K gas station at 12405 N. Main St., according to sheriff's office reports.

Jacksonville investigators were part of a multi-agency task force monitoring a sexual assault suspect wanted in South Carolina who was spotted here around 4:30 p.m. One of the investigators saw a parked vehicle where the suspect may have been and then saw a man who looked similar to him coming out of a store. The driver then got out of the car, which was stolen while a woman was still inside, Waters said at the scene.

While the detective was detaining the man, a U.S. deputy marshal and a St. Johns County task force deputy shot and killed the suspect. The sheriff did not explain what the suspect did to provoke the use of deadly force or whether he was armed. He also did not say what charges, if any, were filed against the driver or whether the woman was arrested.

Because the Jacksonville detective did not fire the shot, Water said the case is now being handled by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The FDLE typically does not release further information until the investigation is complete, which often takes more than a year.

Why else was Nelson Marrero wanted?

Waters said the suspect is also wanted in connection with a recent stabbing murder in Jacksonville.

This happened on May 16 at 917 La Marche Drive, off Normandy Boulevard, according to a supplemental report from the sheriff's office. The victim was 29-year-old Corey Gerald Sampson Jr. of the home.

A witness told investigators he was in the shed behind the house when the suspect, who called himself “Rico,” came over and complained that his motorcycle had not been repaired. Sampson then came out and told the man and the other people to leave.

But the suspect had a small knife and wanted to fight, the document says. The victim told him to drop the knife and “fight like men.” When he tried to open the door to tell everyone to leave, the suspect stabbed him once in the neck and fled.

The district attorney's office and sheriff's office “dismissed the case as an exception” due to the “death of the offender,” Marrero, the supplemental report states. He is listed as being from Ridgeland, SC.

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