A Jacksonville firefighter was issued a formal letter of reprimand for an Instagram post following a recent mass shooting in which six people were wounded.
News4Jax reports that Engineer Pat Schneider replied to an Instagram post by the station concerning the drive-by shooting with the comment, "About time, Jesus it's been weeks since we had a good shooting. #gottakeepthatstreetcred."
Fire Chief Kurt Wilson confirmed that Schneider made the post, and an internal investigation found that it violated the city's social media directive.
Schneider's written apology, which is below, was addressed to Chief Wilson:
"I whole heartily apologize for my social media post, which was not intended to be sincere. My satire was not conveyed through the post the way I intended, and I offended numerous people. My intention was to show my frustration with the continued violence in the city that I serve. I have responded to these exact types of calls, and know firsthand the type of stress and pressure it puts on the city’s first responders.
"In the end, my thoughts and prayers are with the family and victims of this heinous crime and any other victims of senseless crimes in our great city."
Schneider had no prior disciplinary issues in his personnel file prior to this incident.
