A young man was gunned down Monday morning in Palatka, and his army recruiter tells First Coast News he was planning to enlist this Thursday.
The victim, 23-year-old Darien Greene, died shortly after calling for help at a neighboring house.
Agencies collected evidence for more than 14 hours.
All that’s been left in their absence are two bullet holes where shots were fired from a vacant home Monday morning.
With a shooting range nearby, gunfire is nothing new for the community where the shooting occurred.
They can be heard in the background of our interview with 10-year-old Eric Bradley
"I thought it was the gun range because they’re shooting back there," said Bradley.
But the gunfire he heard early Monday morning were bullets flying in front of his home, killing Greene.
"I heard two gunshots when I was at my mom’s house watching TV," Bradley said.
His mother, Erika Chisolm, says it’s a scary situation with so many little kids around.
"Very worried, there was a bullet that hit my neighbor’s car and my bullet is right there," she said.
The victim ran from home in the distance to this neighbor’s house for help, but by the time help arrived, it was too late.
911 was called at 5:17 a.m. and the first officer arrived eight minutes later.
"We never rush at a crime scene. We try to collect as much evidence as possible," said Chief Jason Shaw.
Shaw says they have persons of interest, but no one in custody
He says Darien Greene does not have a record with them.
The motive is still under investigation.
"We hate when there is a shooting when there’s a lot of kids, but thank God they were at school for most of this," Shaw said.
First Coast News was told neither the victim nor possible suspect are believed to live in the apartment complex.