A SWAT standoff in a Clay County neighborhood overnight Tuesday ended with one person in custody, leaving residents shaken and seeking answers.
CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — A normally peaceful neighborhood in Clay County became the site of a high-stakes SWAT standoff on Tuesday night, culminating in the arrest of one individual and leaving neighbors deeply unsettled.
The events took place in the Cross Creek subdivision on Cold Stream Lane, where shortly after midnight, Clay County deputies and a SWAT team arrived. Authorities advised residents to either stay indoors or, in certain instances, evacuate their homes.
Neighbor Christopher Rodriguez said deputies came to his door and told him to leave his home for safety.
“When we drove past all the SWAT vehicles, the police, and everyone else, I thought to myself, ‘Oh, this is serious,'” recalled Rodriguez. “So, we decided to leave and spent the time outside, constantly checking our phones wondering, ‘What’s happening?’ It was rather frightening.”
Another neighbor, who declined to go on camera, said she heard multiple gunshots and commotion just feet from her home.
Video captured by First Coast News shows a destroyed section of a fence and what appears to be several bullet holes in the front door of a home where the standoff occurred.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office confirmed one person was taken into custody around 2 a.m., but did not say what led up to the standoff, who the individual is, or whether anyone was injured.
Rodriguez said the experience was especially jarring because the neighborhood is typically calm and quiet.
“The community’s quiet, it’s always like that,” said Rodriguez. “I never would’ve thought something like this could happen right next door.”
The sheriff’s office did not hold a briefing on the situation and has yet to release additional details.
First Coast News has requested updates from CCSO and will provide new information as soon as it becomes available.
