Man wanted in Florida shooting found by police folded in dryer, 'hideout ready to fall'

A 31-year-old man wanted in connection with a shooting in southwest Florida this spring was found “folded, not so neatly” in a clothes dryer, officials said.

David Jerome Jackson was on the run after the Escambia County Sheriff's Office reported officials identified him as a suspect in a March 15 shooting in Pensacola.

The coastal city sits on the northwest tip of the Sunshine State near the Alabama border, about 55 miles southeast of Mobile, Alabama.

The home where officers found the suspect is in a neighborhood about four miles southwest of downtown Pensacola.

When officers received information about his whereabouts, they went to a west Pensacola home to execute a search warrant, the agency wrote in a news release.

He traced his iPhone to the wrong address: The teenager then set the house on fire, killing 5 innocent people. He now faces 60 years in prison.

“Folded, not so neatly inside”

Arriving officers entered the home Friday and, after an extensive search, the release states, officers went to the laundry room, where they eventually discovered Jackson, “folded, not so neatly, in a dryer drum remarkably small.”

Deputies described the expression on his face in the statement as “a combination of guilt, embarrassment and warmheartedness.”

“He was pulled from the dryer, one limb at a time, as he clung to his hiding place ready to fall,” the sheriff’s office wrote in the post.

Florida man found in dryer had socks and sheets stuck to his shirt

Outside the dryer, officials reported, officers removed three dryer sheets, two mismatched socks and a crumpled tissue “from his surprisingly wrinkled Star Wars shirt.”

Jackson was taken into custody and arrested on charges of shooting into a dwelling, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal damage to property and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, officials wrote in the release .

Man found in dryer wanted in connection with shooting

According to an arrest report obtained by USA TODAY, Jackson was wanted in the March shooting after going to the home of his nephew's stepfather to talk to him about the boy's discipline.

“Jackson told him not to touch his nephew,” the report reads.

Jackson then allegedly walked toward his nephew's stepfather and fired a shot in the direction of the victim, a deputy wrote in the arrest report.

No one was injured in the shooting.

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David Jackson remained jailed on $12,000

As of Wednesday, Jackson remained jailed on $12,000 bail, according to online jail records.

He is due in court June 7 for a hearing in the case and it was not immediately known whether he has obtained the services of an attorney.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Wanted man David Jackson found hiding in a clothes dryer in Pensacola, Florida.