On my radio show yesterday, Escambia County Commissioner Lumon May confirmed that he had heard many of the same rumors of a gang war brewing. He admitted that he is concerned for the safety of the community.
“There is a sense of urgency and fear,” said Commissioner May. “I met with a group on yesterday that believe that it’s going be a bloodbath.”
Yesterday, I put up on the blog a rap video that showed victims from the recent shooting. Commissioner May called it “shameful” and “hurtful.”
“Unfortunately, some of those young people I know, and they’re perpetuating the gang violence. And I often say, as long as it’s concentrated in the pockets of poverty and low income and minority communities, it’s not a sense of awareness for it. But I tell you, Rick, it’s a community problem. It’s not a black problem. It’s not a District 3 problem. It is a community problem because it spills out.”
He believes the recent shootings are part of a battle between the “Eastside versus Montclair.”
“We have a gun problem. And, you know, I think the question becomes, where do the guns come from? …Unfortunately, guns are running rampant throughout the Pensacola community.”
Commissioner May has been around community centers all his life. His grandmother was the janitor for the Fricker Center for 30 years.
“I’ve simply gone to a community center probably every day of my life, and probably for one of the first times, I feel unsafe. I feel that it’s a danger and it’s a danger to many of our good children.”
Another Shooting
WEAR News reports that a man believed to have been shot in Ensley showed up at local hospital last night.
- The television station chose to withhold information about the hospital “out of respect for the victim’s safety.”
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t issue press releases like the Pensacola Police Department.
However, ECSO did post on Facebook three days ago a request for help on a homicide that happened a month ago:
HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION:
On 6/23/2023, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the 5600th block of Graymont Drive. They located a male victim deceased from gunshot wounds in a white Toyota Camry. The vehicle had been shot multiple times on the driver-side door.
If you have any information regarding this homicide investigation, please call Crime Stoppers at 850-433-STOP (7867) to remain anonymous or the ECSO at 850-436-9620.
If the shootings are part of an “Eastside versus Montclair” dispute, why are they in Scenic Heights (O’Riley’s Uptown Tavern) and near Camelot (Northwoods Apartments II)? Some facts have not yet been reported. First, O’Riley’s Uptown Tavern is in the city limit but its parking lot is not. Its one of the many gaps and seams between law enforcement agency jurisdictions. We’ve not been told what the 19-year old shooting victim was doing outside of O’Riley’s at 2 am or if it was a regular occurrence or if PPD knew. Second, Northwoods Apartments II is also in the city limit but barely. It is the northernmost point in the city. The properties to the west, north and east are all out in the county. We’ve also not been told how long it took PPD to actually get to Northwoods Apartments II after the shooting. Where was the closest uniform patrol unit at the time of the shooting? As far back as 2008, PPD Officers have told me (and others) that patrolling the northeast part of the city is not a high priority. (Traditionally, each mayor insists on that PPD focus on downtown where his political patrons live or own businesses.) As Commissioner May rightly points out, the shootings are not limited to communities of color. I live in Scenic Heights. I know of three confirmed shootings in three years within a hundred yards of my house. How about installing ShotSpotter for the entire city vice just one square mile?