Residents want security after the shooting at Vistas at Eastwood

Thursday night, a little more than a month after a man terrified a community for hours by shooting from his balcony police are talking about what happened that night.

The shooting scene at the Vistas at Eastwood apartments in Fort Myers has put residents on edge ever since it happened.

The Vistas at Eastwood community want to feel safe and who could blame them?

Seems that since the shootout neighbors have been calling the leasing office when they see something suspicious. And people in the leasing office are saying don’t call us, call the police instead.

Wednesday night, Fort Myers police hosted its first community watch group meeting, and FMPD said it’s one of the best tools we have.

It wasn’t just the trauma the people living at the Vistas at Eastwood apartments have dealt with its that the shooter was their neighbor.

Acting major of the Fort Myers Police Department, Jason Fields, shared some thoughts with WINK News.

“He’s a perfect example. I mean, he was in the eviction process, but he still had a lawful reason to be there. And the process wasn’t completed yet,” Fields said.

“If we’re going to be successful, it’s truly going to take all of us…” Fields said.

And according to Fields calling the leasing office when they see suspicious activity at the apartment complex isn’t the solution.

“No, ideally, we’d want them to call directly to us, the police, they’ll get a much quicker response,” Fields said.

Which is the reason the complex and Fort Myers Police Department joined efforts to hold a community watch group meeting this week. Officers from FMPD and officials from the complex gathered to discuss the best ways for these people to keep their home safe.

“The reason we do them is to educate people, to open those lines of communication,” Fields said. “And just to have good overall awareness that, you know, we’re all in this together to make the community safer.”

WINK News was originally invited to sit and listen in on the meeting but was quickly asked to leave close to 10 minutes after it started.

Besides the FMPD officers and the employees of the complex, only five people showed up to the meeting. Both FMPD and the people who run the complex hope more people participate if there’s a second meeting.