INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Two Gifford residents made an impassioned plea for government assistance in dealing with violence and the conditions behind the violence in their community where a rash of recent shootings has brought long-simmering issues to a boil.
Rev. William Shelly who lives on 32nd Avenue in Gifford painted a graphic and disturbing picture of recent events, including a shooting late last month in which he said at least 49 shots were fired within 300 feet of his home.
“My 16-year-old daughter came running to where I was watching a basketball game, saying ‘Daddy, what’s happening?’ I looked out the window and saw people running for their lives.”
Based on his experience as a combat veteran of the U.S. Army, Shelly said he identified six different caliber weapons being discharged.
“It’s like being in a war zone where we have to hit the floor and low crawl,” Shelly said.
Another Gifford resident, who said she has lived in the neighborhood for more than 50 years and never seen conditions so bad, described seeing fire shooting from gun barrels when she was trying to pick up her grandson from school.
She said loud music blasts into her home every night and constant profanity is audible from the street.
“They have taken over our yards, and I can’t get help from anyone when I call,” she told commissioners.
Shelly said recent shootings and other disturbances result directly from illegal gatherings on the streets and in vacant lots that have elements of a car show but that deteriorate into drunken street parties with speeding cars, blaring music and fights.
He said underlying causes include a lack of community development and deteriorating conditions in the neighborhood that have been left to fester by unresponsive officials.
“I am pleading with you to get involved,” Shelly told commissioners. “You’re the overseers public safety and my safety is as important as yours. We need your community development director and public works director to come and figure out ways to revitalize this area.”
County Commission Chairman Joe Flescher acknowledged the problem, which he said results from “automobile raves” that draw young people from around the state, and said the commission is committed to correcting the situation restoring a good quality of life in Gifford.
Commissioner Wesley Davis asked several questions to try clarify when and where the problems are occurring and promised to visit the area after the commission meeting to try get a better understanding of the situation and look for solutions.
Sheriff Deryl Loar said the core element of gatherings are legitimate auto shows permitted by the county at an area park but that after the official events end action moves to bars, vacant lots and streets. He said that since the shootings his department has adopted “a zero tolerance policy.”
“We have made dozens of arrests for open containers, no seatbelts, and other infractions” as a way of restoring order and getting the message across to outsiders that the disturbances won’t be tolerated,” Loar said.
