‘Felt like I was looking at the devil himself’: deadly Westside shooting witness says he was shot at
Only on Action News Jax, a witness in Thursday’s deadly Westside shooting is speaking out and says he’s lucky to be alive. Police say Keith Bernard Hubbard was the suspect in what JSO believes was a ‘random’ shooting. The 38-year-old was absentee booked so there’s currently no mugshot available.
Police found Hubbard in the woods with the help of their K9 unit and had to hit him with a taser after he started fighting the dog. The witness, who didn’t want his name shared said he made direct eye contact with Hubbard.
“Honestly, it felt like I was looking at the devil himself,” the witness said.
Hubbard is now facing several charges including attempted murder and three counts of battery on a Law Enforcement Officer. JSO said further charges are possible as detectives continue to work the case and work through evidence.
The witness said after making eye contact, Hubbard started shooting.
“I look outside and five feet away from me is a man staring at my window with a shotgun, rifle whatever you want to call it,” he said “He knelt down, crouched through the bushes, saw me and started shooting up my house, shooting up my water lines, shot my window. If I would’ve stayed at my window, I would’ve taken a bullet through the head.”
Action News Jax obtained security footage that picks up the audio of gunfire at least seven different times between 8:56 and 9:04 in the morning.
JSO also released a photo of the firearm that was used and said they believe it was a random shooting. Investigators said the victim who died left their home to see who was firing shots when they were shot and killed.
The witness said bullets flew everywhere from the window, to the shower as he hid in the bathroom.
“I crawled all the way to my bathroom, it has two doors and I went through the first one, laid up against the wall and foot above me the bullet went through the wall and thank god it didn’t hit me,” he said.
The witness said the man who died was his neighbor.
“They would walk by say hello, they’d walk their dog,” he said.
Action News Jax dug through court documents to learn more about Hubbard’s past. Just last month in June, his wife filed divorce papers. They’d been married since 2008 and have three kids, the record mentions domestic violence and substance abuse as reasons for the divorce.
His wife filed for protection in a domestic violence injunction in 2021. It says Hubbard became erratic one day and lunged at her, threatening to beat her up and even pulled out an AK-47, pointing it at a camera. It mentions that he believed she wanted him dead.
It’s unclear if the AK-47 mentioned in the document is the same gun used in the shooting.
As gunfire went off, the witness said he called the police, adding that said he’s never seen Hubbard in his life.
“I don’t know what he was going through or what he had gone through his mind but if I walked through that door, I would’ve been dead,” he said.
The witness said this has left him traumatized.
“It was awful, it was shocking my heart started palpitating,” he said. “Full anxiety attack, I got nauseous.”
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