OAKLEAF – Two people were dead, and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office was busy piecing together information after a 45-year-old Jacksonville man barged into a home in the 300 block of Pine Oaks …
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OAKLEAF – Two people were dead, and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office was busy piecing together information after a 45-year-old Jacksonville man barged into a home in the 300 block of Pine Oaks Lane off Challenger Drive early Monday.
According to CCSO Undersheriff Ron Lendvay, three people were shot inside the home by Maurico Vasco Lopez before someone inside the home shot Lopez. One of the three in the house was declared dead at the scene, and the other two were transported to local hospitals, where Lendvay said they are in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.
Lopez was taken to the hospital, where he later died of his injuries.
“Detectives responded to work the scene and interviewed victims and witnesses at the time that this took place,” Lendvay said. “Preliminary investigative findings reveal that 45-year-old Marico Vasco Lopez of Jacksonville arrived at the home armed with a handgun. He shot three people before somebody present at the home shot him.”
Lendvay made statements and answered questions while Sheriff Michelle Cook stood by. She turned to the undersheriff because “as you can tell by my voice, I’ve been fighting a pretty tough cold.”
Lendvay said there were at least eight people inside the house when Lopez entered around 6 a.m. Detectives were working to determine whether Lopez was connected to anyone inside the home, and if any of the eight were minors.
“Our detectives and crime scene techs have a lot of interviews, scene work and follow-ups to conduct to clarify exactly what happened here and what the motive may have been,” Lendvay said. “We're confident that there is no further threat to the community now that the suspect has passed away. Our thoughts are with neighbors here in this neighborhood and those who had to live through this traumatic event. We'll provide more details as we can.”
Lendvay said the person who returned fire probably kept the situation from getting worse.
“It certainly could have been much more tragic,” he said. “Somebody in there helped save folks, and I think we all owe that person a debt of gratitude.”
