Michael Easter, 23, a young father from Jacksonville, was shot in the early morning hours of Friday, June 13, 2025, and later died at the hospital. Officers found him lying behind a car on Norwood Avenue about 1:40 a.m. with a gunshot wound to the upper torso. He was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead there.

Witnesses said an argument broke out in the parking lot of the Elevation Lounge as the nightclub was closing, and that Easter got into a car with another person. Moments later gunfire rang out as the vehicle pulled away; the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office reported the suspected shooter ran off after the shot was fired. His family held a Father’s Day balloon release and remembered him as a devoted dad to his two sons.

As of initial reports, detectives had not announced any arrests and the shooter remained at large. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office or Crime Stoppers; did anyone see activity around the Elevation Lounge that night?