The Indian River County Sheriff called on the community to help solve two deadly shootings in the Gifford area.
Indian River County Sheriff, Eric Flowers made a plea to the community on Labor Day after the shooting death of a 22-year-old male from Fort Pierce.
The shooting took place at 2:50 a.m. off Old Dixie Highway near the closed-down Kool Kuts barber shop.When deputies arrived, they found the 22-year-old victim, who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to Sheriff Flowers, over 100 people were parked around that area throughout the night and into the morning.
“Our deputies, you know, observed them, saw them out there before, no problems,” said Sheriff Flowers. “Then all of a sudden, when somebody gets shot, nobody wants to talk to us. There’s nobody out there who witnessed anything. Nobody saw anything.”
According to the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office (IRCSO), the 911 call came from someone who was driving by, possibly someone who was at the gathering, but they don’t know.
Sheriff Flowers says the department is hearing information from people who weren’t at the place of the shooting but heard about it, but they need people who were there to come forward.
“There are people that know what happened and saw what happened,” said Sheriff Flowers. “We believe that there’s more to this story. We’re hearing various different stories, but until we can get it from people who are actually on scene, we’re not going to really report on any of that right now.”
Possible Witnesses
CBS12’s Amber Raub asked Sheriff Flowers why the department thinks people aren’t coming forward.
“I’m sure some of it is distrust of the police. I’m sure some of it is that these are young folks who have been raised to not cooperate with law enforcement,” said Sheriff Flowers.
Flowers says the relationships they’ve been building for years in the community will hopefully help.
“I’ve been on the phone this morning with the head of the NAACP, Tony Brown. We have a great relationship with him. Many of our pastors, Pastor Spencer, and many other pastors in the community, they’re fantastic to work with,” said Flowers.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the crowd allegedly associated with this incident is full of people in their 20s.
“It’s the new young crowd,” said Flowers. “A few years ago we had the YNW Melly crowd that was running around, and we chased those guys around, groups from Fort Pierce, groups from Gifford, running together. This is the same thing. It’s the next generation of kids in their early 20s who were running around together, causing these problems.”
Because of their age and how they’ve grown up, he says it’s crucial that the department works with organizations and community leaders that can get through to them.
“It’s finding somebody who has a direct connection to them, because even the elders in the community, a lot of times, have lost touch with some of these kids,” said Flowers.
He also tells CBS12 News that the people involved are allegedly from Fort Pierce.
“These are folks from Fort Pierce who have come up. In both instances, we’ve had folks from Fort Pierce right in the middle of it,” said Flowers.
The First Shooting
The Labor Day shooting marks the second fatal incident in the Gifford Area in less than a month. In the second shooting, 24-year-oldRobert Trusty III was shot and killed.
“This is such a tragedy. In the last month here, less than a month, two young men in their 20s, African American men within a mile of each other, were killed in the Gifford area,” said Sheriff Flowers. “This is one of those things where you have young people who think they’re in a gang, or they think that they’re part of this cool lifestyle that they see on TV, and it’s just not, it’s not real. People end up dead. People end up hurt and injured, and it really becomes a tragedy when parents are burying young kids.”
Just a couple of weeks ago, the Sheriff attended Mr. Trusty’s funeral. Mr. Trusty’s case remains unsolved.
“I’m confident that we could close out the homicide that happened three weeks ago tonight if we had the right witness that came forward,” said Sheriff Flowers.
Rise in Gun Violence
Community activists are now also speaking out against those who allow this rise in gun violence to continue.
Vero Beach resident Michael Marsh told CBS12’s Katie Bente that silence is more than just a lack of cooperation—it’s part of the problem, and it’s costing countless lives.
“I see a problem that started many years ago with the ‘stop snitching’ culture. And I believe until that ends, we’re going to keep seeing this,” Marsh said.
“To see something, say something, apparently, that’s not happening here in Indian River County and it needs to, because it could be your relative next,” Marsh added. “These victims need justice, and it won’t end on this one.”
But this isn’t just a local issue. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 6,000 people aged 15 to 24 were killed by firearms in 2020 alone.
“Law enforcement can’t do what they do best, until the community steps up and helps, because law enforcement is ready,” Marsh said.
Flowers has this message for the people involved in these incidents:
“My message to those folks, the 20-somethings that are part of this crowd, is that if you think you’re going to continue to live this lifestyle if you think that it’s cool, you know, you think you’re a rapper, you think, whatever it is, expect that our team is going to be all over you. We’re going to keep stopping you. We’re going to keep giving you tickets. We’re going to keep sighting in for everything we possibly can until you’re behind bars or you change your wings,” said Flowers.
The Investigation
As the department proceeds investigating these cases they will use a variety of sources.
“Cameras, license plate readers. I’m confident in that one, that we will have lots of evidence, but we still need witnesses, and we still need cooperation,” said Flowers. “The clock is ticking every day that goes by, our evidence builds. People don’t think about it, but every one of us is carrying a cell phone around. Every one of these vehicles has data that’s collected inside of it. Those are all breadcrumbs, pieces of evidence, things that we collect as part of our investigation.”
The Sheriff is encouraging anyone who may know something to call the department at (772) 569-6700.
If anyone is concerned about the information they provide, they can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers.
“It’s an anonymous call. The call center is not anywhere in Florida. Those folks take the tips, they get them back to us. If there’s somebody who is eligible for a reward, the information goes to a bank,” said Flowers. “The bank has no idea who the person is. They get a code word. They walk into the bank with a code word, and the person gets handed an envelope full of cash. So even the people who take the tips have no idea who it is that’s ever given that information.”
Sheriff Flowers says the department will always work to protect witnesses.
“If you’re somebody who saw something, knows something, absolutely we can put you up somewhere out of town, in a hotel. We have funds to be able to do that. We can work with Crime Stoppers. We’ll make you disappear out of town so that nobody knows that you can come back and testify,” said Flowers.
If you would like to remain anonymous, they can call the Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 273-TIPS.
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Source: cbs12
