TAMPA, Fla. — Multiple residents that live in the Arbor Flats apartments operated by McKinley told ABC Action News they've complained for months about the need for more security and patrols of their community because of an uptick in suspicious activity.
Friday morning, around 8:30 a.m., residents said their worst fears were realized. Tampa police said a juvenile girl was shot and remained in critical condition after a fight between two groups broke out on the property.
Residents tell us they heard boys and girls fighting and then gunshots.
"I was called by my girlfriend, and she said there was a gunshot outside the house. They were all fighting. She heard a bunch of rumbling, they fought on my girlfriend's car, and everything went silent. And then a gunshot went off," Isaiah Paredes, who lives at Arbor Flats, said.
"There were blood trails and a casing outside in front of our door. So it's a lot that happened. She was shaking pretty bad. She didn't know what was gonna happen. There's always a bunch of kids in the pool; just that don't even live here. They hop the fence. It's just a continuous cycle," Paredes continued.
Other residents expressed similar concerns. We spoke to Maria, who did not want us to use her last name out of fear of retaliation, and she told us she saw bullet casings in the street from her front porch. Since the pandemic began, Maria said the complex had gone downhill.
Maria said a man recently threatened her and her husband while taking their trash to the dumpster. And she says she witnessed first-hand crimes committed at the community pool.
"I get home late from work, around 1 or 2 in the morning, and there are people doing drugs at the pool, homeless people bathing naked, and people having sex," Maria recounted.
"Sarah," who asked us to use a fake name, said she moved in 3-months ago. Sarah said she became worried about the apartments after reading several online reviews about crime in the area. So she shared an e-mail thread with an employee of McKinley, the company that operates Arbor Flats.
"I did want to ask about a few reviews I've found about the Arbor Flats apartments in regards to multiple cars being broken into and some apartments having electronics get stolen potentially by staff... If you can reassure me that. These apartments are safe. I would greatly appreciate it," the e-mail from Sarah said.
"I can assure you that the community is safe," a Senior Sales Associate wrote. "I have not heard of any car break-ins or packages being stolen since I've been employed here, which is over a year now. We have had quite a few residents move out who were causing issues, but we've gained new residents that are great!"
But now Sarah said she isn't sticking around to see if the current problems are fixed.
"I'm going to move and hopefully find a place that makes me feel more secure," Sarah said.
"They've (groups of teens) threatened tenants and elderly residents who they've seen walking out of their own apartments by saying we saw where you just came out of, you better not say anything. They caused multiple noise complaints. I can't tell you how many times I've seen the cops come here and try to run them off. The language and the attitude is startling. And then to find out that those people, in particular, could have been responsible for this. We've been warning the complex and police about this for months now. So it's sad that it's come to someone almost dying to get real attention pulled to this," Sarah said.
Multiple requests to McKinley for comment have not been returned. We are waiting for more information from Tampa PD about a potential suspect.
The latest update from police stated the victim underwent surgery and remained critical.
