Jacksonville, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said it made 13 arrests, seized over 100 grams of marijuana, and recovered nine guns at a “Senior Skip Day” event in Jacksonville Beach.
Police said that officers were made aware of the event by the Jacksonville Beach Police Department, which learned of the event through “online chatter” that appeared similar to recent teen takeovers in the area.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office released a photo of a firearm it says officers seized during a ‘Senior Skip Day’ event in Jacksonville Beach. (Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office)
Eight people face felony charges following the arrests, and five more were arrested for misdemeanors, JSO said.
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“Our teams took a proactive approach to keep everyone safe, looking for suspicious and dangerous behavior,” the agency wrote on social media. “Please enjoy our beaches and public spaces, but don’t bring bad behavior, illegal weapons, or drugs.”
JSO says 9 firearms were seized as officers were deployed to monitor a ‘Senior Skip Day’ event in Jacksonville Beach. (Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office)
The Jacksonville Beach Police Department also took to social media to share its gratitude for the work done by JSO and other law enforcement agencies to break up the event and keep the community safe.
“We appreciate their continued support—not just for this event, but throughout the past several weeks as we’ve worked together to address takeover activity and keep our community safe,” Jacksonville Beach police said. “We’re committed to keeping Jacksonville Beach safe—and that takes all of us working together.”
The arrests come as police in our coverage area actively work to prevent teen takeover-style events, such as the one that recently occurred at Blue Cypress Park in Arlington involving over 200 teens.
A teen takeover is a large, loosely organized gathering of juveniles that’s typically promoted on social media and can quickly overwhelm the area where it happens – a mall parking lot, a popular park, or a busy shopping corridor.
While many teens show up just to hang out, the size and energy of the crowd can create fertile ground for chaos, fights and, in some cases, gunfire.
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters has emphasized that these aren’t sanctioned community events. They’re spontaneous meetups driven by social media that can be hard for parents – and sometimes even police – to see coming.
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