JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In the wake of popular Jacksonville rapper Julio Foolio's death, Sheriff T.K. Waters said in a news conference Monday that the sheriff's office is keeping a close eye on "clashing" groups in the city.
Julio Foolio, whose real name is Charles Jones II, was shot and killed in the parking lot of a hotel in Tampa early Sunday morning. The Tampa Police Department said it received a 911 call regarding the shooting at approximately 4:40 a.m. and three other people were injured.
The rapper had been celebrating his 26th birthday while in Tampa. His attorney said he was "ambushed" and that he was initially staying in an Airbnb, but was asked to leave when his party went over the occupancy limit.
Foolio had been shot at least three times in the past four years before being fatally shot in Tampa.
He belonged to Jacksonville gang KTA, which has been embroiled in a long-running feud with gang, ATK, which counts prominent Jacksonville rapper Yungeen Ace, real name Kenyatta Bullard, as its most visible member.
KTA stands for "Kill Them All" and ATK stands for "Ace's Top Killers," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Yungeen Ace was the target in a retaliatory shooting for the death of Jones' cousin Zion Brown in June 2018 when he and three other teens went to a St. Johns Town Center restaurant to celebrate the rapper's brother's birthday. Ace survived after being shot eight times. The three others, including his brother, Tre'von Bullard, 18, died. The two other men were Royale D'Von Smith Jr., 18, and Jercoby Da'Shad Groover, 19.
Following the shooting, Julio Foolio made several posts on social media glorifying the killings, First Coast News reported. He created a T-shirt airbrushed with a photo of Royale D'Von Smith Jr., also known as 23, that said: "Rest in piss 23." He posted a photo of the T-shirt on his Instagram page saying, "I'm getting a new T-shirt made for my show."
When asked about the "glorification of violence on social media," Waters said in the news conference Monday that "young people think this is a game."
"They make it like it's a video game, it's not," Waters said. "This is real life. He has a mother, he has parents, siblings probably, friends. They have to deal with these kind of losses and it's unfortunate."
With a sense of possible retaliation upcoming, seeking vengeance for Foolio's death, Waters said: "Now, the next thing is, these groups, I won't name them, they know who they are. We're not gonna tolerate any retribution, any revenge. We're gonna watch, we're gonna be around paying attention to what's going on."
Waters further stated that he wants the public to be vigilant as JSO works to stop people who "arbitrarily run around and spray bullets into people's houses and cars."
