A Jacksonville firefighter was injured in a shooting incident Tuesday night on the city's Southside when police say an unknown shooter in a vehicle targeted a group of about six firefighters.

Lt. Jackson Short of the Sheriff's Office said the firefighters were fueling a ladder truck behind Fire Station 28 in the 9200 block of Hogan Road at about 7:35 p.m. when a vehicle drove up and someone fired five or six shots, striking one of the firefighters in the arm after the bullet ricocheted.

"It appears the firemen were targeted," Shorts said. "Because they are firefighters, they were on duty and the area is very well lit from the streetlights at the gas pump area."

The car then sped off. Police did not have a description of the vehicle or the occupants.

Short said the firefighter was treated at the scene and not hospitalized.

Additional details about the incident weren't available.

The shooting follows the ambush deaths of two New York Police Department officers and the shooting death of a Tarpon Springs police officer over the weekend. Also, Tuesday morning a Jacksonville police officer was shot at by suspected car thieves.

Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown said in a prepared statement Tuesday night that he was outraged and called the attacks in Jacksonville "cowardly."

"These attacks will not be tolerated," he said. "As mayor, I will do everything in my power to protect the firefighters and police officers who work so hard to keep us safe. … They deserve no less."

Short said police have no indication this shooting is connected to those recent incidents or to protests against grand jury decisions to not prosecute police officers in the deaths of Michael Brown or Eric Garner.

Michael Brown, 18, who's black was shot and killed in Ferguson, Mo., this summer by a white police officer. Garner, also a black man, died after police attempted to arrest him for selling individual cigarettes on Staten Island.

There have been protests in several major cities across the nation since the grand juries in both cases declined to file criminal charges.

Randy Wyse, president of the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters, said the shooting Tuesday night is another example of where a small part of the job can escalate into a life-threatening situation. He said fire stations have been targeted before.

"This isn't an incident that firefighters expect to encounter," he said.

Wyse said he knows the Sheriff's Office will conduct a thorough investigation and hopes the shooter is caught soon.

Times-Union writer Dan Scanlan contributed to this report