The District on Kernan apartment complex, which advertises itself as student housing for UNF and Florida State College at Jacksonville students, received a late-night visit from the police Monday, Oct. 5 at 11:24 p.m forsomething other than a rowdy party, according to a Jacksonville Police Department news release. A gunman shot someone dead. The victim Timothy John Pemberton — 30-year-old male — died in what the news release
called a homicide. The victim never attended UNF, according to student records and Sharon Ashton, UNF assistant vice president of media relations. Information on whether he resided in the apartment complex or was just a visitor remains unreleased. Distributed letters notified The District’s residents of the crime, said Chip Schell, vice president of operations at Campus Advantage, the company who manages The
District. Schell reiterated his inability to give information to the public. He said that he had “no idea” when information regarding the suspect or a motive for murder would be released, as open investigation
of the case continues. “I’m not sure what advice I would give to students [because] we don’t know if [the shooting] was random or what,” Schell said. “Our hearts go out to the students involved in this.” When the Spinnaker contacted JSO’s media relations department, Public Information Officer Melissa J. Bujeda refused to release the name of the detective assigned to the case. She also said over the phone that no release of information for the public had yet “been planned.” Minutes later, Bujeda e-mailed a written news release, which she hadn’t mentioned during the phone call, to members of the Spinnaker staff. This didn’t include any information about the suspect, motive or other specifics of the crime. The Spinnaker will update the students as information becomes available.