JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There’s more fallout following a weekend quadruple shooting inside the Paxon Shopping Center parking lot off Edgewood Avenue.
Nearby neighbors, some of whom have asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, have said they have repeatedly complained about questionable late-night activities in the parking lot that have kept them up at night. Activities that have included loud music and gunshots. Now they are voicing their frustrations towards City Councilwoman Tyrona Clark-Murray, who represents their district.
“She needs to step up and clean up her area and do her job. If you’re an elected official, do your job. It’s that simple. Do your job,” said one neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous and also said she personally delivered a letter to the councilwoman’s office last year but was only able to talk to the councilwoman’s assistant.
“She definitely needs to get to the bottom of what’s going on here and do something about it,” said another neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous.
“You figure they would do a walk-through and get to know their neighborhoods, their constituents that are here, and support the people and get behind what needs to be done to address the issue in the neighborhood,” said business owner Ron Terry.
News4JAX began reporting on the parking lot issues after receiving a complaint back in October of last year. The complainant first provided News4JAX a cell phone video of a large late-night gathering in the parking lot. Several nights later, News4JAX set up a camera across the street and recorded the gatherings along with the loud music. For two nights in a row, police were called to break up the gatherings after receiving noise complaints and a complaint from security guards who were overwhelmed by the number of people in the lot.
News4JAX had even tried to contact Councilwoman Clark-Murray, but did not receive an immediate response.
Two months after recording videos of what nearby neighbors had been complaining about, the parking lot became the backdrop for a double shooting that killed Corey Denmark, 49, of Jacksonville. The shooter in that incident was never captured.
Fast forward to 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, a quadruple shooting sent four people to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The shooter ran away and has not been captured.
That incident further angered nearby homeowners who heard the gunshots.
The manager of the Paxon shopping center property told News4JAX that he had previously tried to contact Councilwoman Clark Murray on more than one occasion, and says he never got a response.
After leaving a voicemail on the councilwoman’s cell phone Tuesday morning, she responded to News4JAX by text message, which read, “Property owners have a legal duty to keep their patrons and invitees safe from reasonable harm. As for actions I can take to ensure the property owner complies with the law, referring the owner to the Public Nuisance and Abatement Board will be my first step.”
We replied and explained that some of her constituents said they had been trying to contact her and felt their concerns were being ignored. The councilwoman’s texted response was, “Thank you for letting me know.”
News4JAX reached out to the property owner to get his reaction to the councilwoman’s statement, but had yet to receive a response.
Back in October, the property owner told News4JAX that he was not renewing the lease to the Paxon Liquor store and Lounge because he believed the store was attracting the people who were causing the problems.