What Happened In The Garden? 2016

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says six people have been shot at the Eureka Gardens apartment complex.

Every apartment unit in Jacksonville's Eureka Garden received a flier Monday asking for information about a late Sunday shooting that left seven people wounded.

The Rev. Mark Griffin, pastor of Wayman Ministries a few blocks away, held a community meeting Monday afternoon to let the residents know their safety is a top priority, and he said they were "dismayed" by what happened the night before.

"Part-time security is not sufficient," he said, calling for ownership to hire more protection to deter any type of retaliation.

People were sitting or standing around a stairway to Unit 11 at Eureka Garden late Sunday when the gunfire began.

Gunmen opened up at 11:45 p.m., hitting seven people outside a building at the troubled Westside apartment complex as other bullets shattered and pierced the windows of a parked sport-utility vehicle nearby, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Police said three gunmen walked up between the two apartment units across Altoona Court, just a few dozen feet off Plymouth Street at the west end of the subsidized apartment complex. They aimed at eight or 10 people "just hanging out" in front of Unit 11, leaving two in life-threatening condition, police said.

"They fired numerous rounds. It appears to be rifle rounds and from handguns, into the crowd," said Sgt. Shawn Coursey, part of the Sheriff's Violent Crime Impact team. "There was an infant in the crowd. Thankfully, the infant was not struck."

The gunmen fired more than 50 rounds at the people before fleeing. Victims were taken to UF Health Jacksonville and Orange Park Medical Center, police said.

Eureka Garden resident Gail Thomas said the gunshots woke her at 11:45 p.m. Sunday and she first thought she was dreaming. More gunshots rang out near her apartment, about five units away from the shooting scene, before her 8-year-old granddaughter finally shook her awake.

"She heard gunshots and she jumped on me saying, 'They are shooting!,' It was like they were coming through my window," Thomas said. "Oh my Lord, I am so glad my family is safe! ... You have little babies out here. Bullets don't know anybody. I thank God that everybody who got shot didn't die."

Thomas, vice president of the Eureka Garden tenants association, said she received a lot of phone calls Monday, including one from a friend in Miami who saw the shooting on the news and worried about her.

Eureka Garden is a federally subsidized apartment complex just west of Cassat Avenue, owned by Global Ministries Foundation of Memphis, Tenn. The Rev. Richard Hamlet, President and CEO of Global Ministries, issued a statement about the shooting late Monday morning. He said their hearts go out to those who were injured "by the brazen actions of the criminals who appeared during the night at Eureka and terrorized the families living there." He said they are working with the Sheriff's Office to help identify the gunmen and bring them to justice swiftly.

Eureka has had its share of criminal problems in recent years.

On Nov. 14, 2015, a Jacksonville man was shot in the leg in the complex, only days after a major leak saw gas service to all 400 units cut off.

A year earlier, Altone Finney was shot and killed after he kicked in the door at another apartment there and charged the resident, who was there with his wife, a 6-week-old child and an adult friend, the Sheriff's Office said. The homeowner was cleared of any wrongdoing in the apparent home invasion, police said. On Oct. 27, 2014, Demantrae Franklin, 15, was found fatally shot in the back shortly after 10 p.m. That was the last major shooting reported at the complex until Sunday's.

Meanwhile, federal, state and local officials also have focused on Eureka Garden for nearly a year since inspectors uncovered hundreds of violations in 340 of the 400 apartments. Those problems ranged from mold and rotting stairways to damaged refrigerators and stoves.

After Global Ministries did repairs, the complex passed a federal inspection earlier this year with a score of 62, two points above passing.

Inspectors still found problems.

When Mayor Lenny Curry and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio toured Eureka Garden in May, the latter called Global Ministries a slumlord and said the company operating as a nonprofit is a sham. He also called for a federal investigation into the Tennessee-based owner. On Aug. 3, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department agents raided Global Ministries Foundation's Tennessee headquarters. The nonprofit group owns Eureka Garden and five other apartment complexes in Jacksonville.

City Councilman Garrett Dennis, whose district includes Eureka Garden, said he was shocked when he learned of the shooting since Eureka Garden has come a long way in recent years. He said he does not want this to define the complex, and added that Sheriff Mike Williams told him that the shooting was a "targeted act."

"This wasn't a random act," Dennis said. "It was a targeted act, but I think what happened with Eureka - it is not just a picture of Eureka. It is a picture of what is happening across Jacksonville. … I don't think it's isolated. It's a picture of the city as a whole."

Dennis sent U.S. Housing and Urban Development administrators an email, saying "it is imperative that HUD make their presence known in person to the Eureka Gardens Community as soon as possible.

"With the lack of security at the complex and ownership questions, the residents need some answers from HUD," the letter continued. "With the pending sale, it is apparent that the current owners are doing the bare minimum and this is again, at the expense of the residents."

Many residents as well as neighbors showed up Monday morning, worried about what happened.

Shayla Grant, pushing her son Gerald, 3, in a stroller, stopped by to check on a cousin who lived in the cluster of apartments that were under fire. Another woman reached Grant's cousin while she watched police work the crime scene.

Grant lives on the other side of the large complex and did not hear any shots, but she increasingly has grown worried during her two years living there. They already had difficult living conditions. Now, with the violence and worries about the safety of her and her son, she wants to move.

"I just want to know what they're going to do to make us feel safe," she said. "… We live here, pay rent and don't feel safe. I just want to feel secure and safe. Bullets flying around could have hit anybody. It's not the residents. It's the people who come into our community and walk around like they live here."

Another man who would only identify himself as Doug said he rushed to the complex Monday morning after hearing about the shooting because his grandchildren live there. He said his grandson is always talking about what's happening at this complex.

"He doesn't want anything to happen to his mama and his little brothers. He's 5 years old and he's smart and he sees all this stuff and he doesn't like it," the man said. "... It's a little crazier. They are supposed to have 24-hour security around here. They didn't have any 24-hour security. If they had that, this wouldn't have happened."

Eureka Garden tenant association president Tracy Grant had already went to work early Monday morning when the full news of the shooting reached her. She said this is the first serious shooting incident at Eureka Garden since the teen's death almost two years ago. She said she is stunned. "I don't really know what else to say" about Sunday's mass shooting."

Grant said she would like to see security beefed up.

Griffin said he began walking around the complex and talking to residents as soon as he heard about the shooting. He said he's frustrated by what happened Sunday night, and all the residents he's spoken to are very distraught.

"They have worked so hard to keep these kind of things from happening," he said. "It's been almost two years since the last homicide was committed over here. I wanted to reassure the residents that their hard work is not in vain."

Griffin said the need for more constant security has been a long-running tenant complaint. He said the security officers are paid to keep an eye on the complex, and residents deserve a secure environment.

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, wrote a letter Monday to Housing Secretary Julian Castro asking that the federal agency provide increased security. The letter requested 24-hour surveillance and "round the clock police security," at Eureka and at Washington Heights, which is also owned by Global Ministries. She wrote that "it has been clearly demonstrated today that the current roaming patrols are insufficient."

"Both of these security provisions are essential and need to be included in the contract(s) when these properties are transferred to their new owners in the near future," adding that secure gates and an upgrade in surveillance cameras so they could "access all angles of the buildings" are also needed, Brown wrote.

The congresswoman attended the Monday afternoon tenants association meeting along with Dennis and Griffin. Brown requested a briefing as soon as she returns to Washington from Congress's August recess.

Hamlet's statement also addressed the security concerns presented by some, saying that while they do not know of any owner of Section 8 housing that has armed guards day and night, Eureka Garden has "targeted paid security and surveillance technology" to cover its sprawling multi-block community.

"To support the JSO and city leaders as they tackle the high rates of violent crime in the area, GMF significantly increased security measures as soon as we purchased the property," the statement said.

With the Eureka property for sale and other issues including the shooting, Dennis said tenants are uncertain about their future. "This is the reason that HUD needs to come down here and address these tenants," he said.

Federal housing officials indicated via email to the city councilman's staff they will have representatives next week to meet with residents.

Dennis said next week is not soon enough. He said residents told him at Monday's meeting they've heard retaliation is coming.

Anyone with information about the shooting can contact the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office at (904) 630-0500 or email JSOCrimeTips@jaxsheriff.org. To remain anonymous contact Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-8477 (TIPS).

dan.scanlan@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4549

joe.daraskevich@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4308

sebastian.kitchen@jacksonville.com,(904) 359-4161