A man whose probation ended just days before was shot by police Friday in Jacksonville, Fla., after trying to enter an elementary school with an ax.
According to First Coast News, new details about the incident were revealed Monday. As of Tuesday, evening the man – identified as 37-year-old Eric David Hurley – was in critical condition.
Hurley was spotted with the ax near Ruth N. Upson Elementary School in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Jacksonville at around 2:40 p.m. Friday, reported the Florida Times-Union. He was not able to get through at least two locked school doors and was later located outside the Murray Hill church, where he allegedly chased people with the ax above his head.
During the search for Hurley, the school was put on lockdown.
When Hurley refused to drop the ax and came toward an officer, the Duval County Public Schools police shot and wounded him, Police Chief Greg Burton confirmed.
“It wasn’t known immediately why he went to the school or his intent, and Burton couldn’t confirm some reports that he swung the ax at parents and chased some in the parking lot arriving to pick up their children,” said the Times-Union.
Court records cited by both news outlets show that Hurley was released from probation just three days before the incident. These records also show that he was charged with grand theft auto in 2018 and pleaded guilty to the charge in 2020. He was sentenced to five years of probation and was required to appear in mental health court twice a month since 2021.
At one point, he allegedly yelled “you want to be next?” to a staff member while trying to get into the school Friday.
Hurley was absentee-booked on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, trespassing on school property with a weapon and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, according to jail records referenced by the Times-Union. The incident is under investigation.
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