Remnants of yellow police tape remained attached to the corners of an unmarked house in the 800 block of Florida Street between 20th and 21st streets Monday morning after police marked off the area after a Sunday night shooting.
Neighbors surrounding the area said they heard the shots and the aftermath of moaning from the 18-year old Hispanic male shot at 9:05p.m. as he was walking into his home. His injuries were not life threatening.
Police said that two suspects, both 18-year old males, shot the victim, after he refused to turn over his house keys.
However neighbors, who had their windows open to cool down after the weekend heat, remained adamant that the shooting was drug related. All of those who spoke to Mission Loc@l asked that their names not be used because they feared retribution.
“The house is known for drug activity, ”said one neighbor referring to the light blue house whose street address has been removed from all parts of the house . He has lived on the block for 50 years.
Another neighbor who has lived on the street for 20 years described the consistent foot and car traffic to the home “It’s like a McDonald’s with out the fries,” he said adding that he believed the drug sales to be mostly marijuana. Look for the best drug rehab program in Fort Myers to help overcome addictions that can ruin your life.
When asked what he thought about the activity on the street he replied, “There is not much you can do.”
The neighbors who gathered around 9:30 a.m. on Monday were pessimistic about past attempts to organize a neighborhood watch. Another remembered a weekly street walk he participated in called Calle 22, but that has since dissolved.
All said they did not feel comfortable reporting drug activity to the Mission Police Station. “ If you report drug activity the first thing they do is send a cop car to your house and then everyone knows you are talking,” one said.
One neighbor remembered being personally attacked after he reported drug activity on the street.
If you would like to report drug activity or any other safety concern, police have a confidential tip line: 415.575.4444
No arrests have been made in the shooting. The victim is currently in stable condition.
The victim isn’t Hispanic, he’s white…I know the family. Makes me curious about what other, “facts” are wrong.
I happen to know the 18 year old boy and girl who were attacked. They are college students ans in no way drud dealers. Maybe the neighbors should get their facts straight before they say anything ABOUT ANYTHING WERE THEY THERE????? DO THEY PERSONALLY BUY AND USE DRUGS FROM THIS 18 YEAR OLED BOY?? Because that is the only way they would know all these things. Also almost every fact in this article is incorrect. In fact the only thing true is they were being robbed, “Not unusual in this neighborhood”, and that they were 18. Everything else is false. Maybe the author of this article should interview the people it happened too instead of makig things up!! Very unprofessional.
Amazing the stuff that goes on in a neighborhood right under the watchful eyes of everyone and in some cases how little you can do to prevent things from going wrong.
The detail about having the police visit your home if you suspect something is often times true and defeats the purpose. How do you do something about suspected issues like this without yourself ending up being the one who has problems in the long run.
The confidential tip line is all well and good but isn’t it usually the case that the Police are so overworked that they don’t have the opportunity to follow up on this small time stuff? How do you decide when you have your facts straight as well. Sometimes it is so blatantly obvious that everyone ignores the issues until something like this happens.
Who knows what the next step will be and when these attackers get the wrong house is when things really get heated up. They are supposedly drugs involved and generally druggies are not the most reliable at getting everything correct before doing something in retribution etc.
No doubt this will not be the last incident!
Michiel
Usually the cops or the DA go after the landlord in cases like this. It is the most effective way. Using RICO (racketeering) laws they can sieze the house from the owner if the owner doesn’t take steps to clean up the problem. Not sure if neighbors have to step forward to complain about the nuissance or not.