Elliott Jones

elliott.jones@tcpalm.com

FORT PIERCE — Gwendolyn Crutchfield swept up the glass and a bullet in her home.

What remains is the fear.

When she returned home the night of Feb. 14, she found a bullet hole in the window of her children's room. The bullet was on her mattress on the other side of the house in the 3000 block of Avenue K.

She blames rival gangs firing at each other in the neighborhood. No one's been arrested in the incident.

Four days later, George Collins, 26, was fatally shot and two others injured by gunfire after someone fired into a crowd of about 30 people at a party in the 400 block of North 22nd Street, police officials said. So far, no arrests have been made.

And, less than two weeks after Crutchfield found a bullet on her bed, deputies were in the 3500 block of her street because a caller complained about a group of five teenagers — two known to police as gang members — walking through the neighborhood, according to sheriff's officials. One fled as police arrived, throwing a stolen handgun into the bushes. Deputies also found a handgun on one of the teens.

"I'm trying to find a better place to live," said Crutchfield, 49.

The cases are added to a long list of shooting incidents in the city. Police officials even found a fired bullet in front of the main Police Department building on U.S. 1 in early February.

But even with these incidents this year, police say they are making progress in the fight against shootings. According to police records:

There were 108 documented shooting incidents in Fort Pierce during 2016, which is 16 less than the 123 shooting incidents in 2015.

The number of people shot declined from 47 in 2015 to 40 last year.

The number of shooting deaths in 2016 compared to 2015 remained the same: seven, although one of last year's deaths was a woman who died after being shot several years ago, police records show.

Homicides declined from nine in 2015 to seven in 2016.

So far in 2017, there have been two homicides in St. Lucie County, both in Fort Pierce. On Jan. 17, Elliott Byrd, 22, was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds at his home on North 22nd Street. The second was the Collins shooting. There's been no arrests in either case.

Police Chief Diane Hobley-Burney attributes the drop to her agency working closely with the community.

"We have increased our presence in high-risk neighborhoods with additional close patrols and front porch roll calls (start-of-shift meetings) out in the community," she said. "We are united with our community for a safer Fort Pierce."

Police expect St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara's arrest of 63 people on March 1 — primarily from Fort Pierce and adjoining neighborhoods — will help slow gunfire in the city, said police spokesman Ed Cunningham.

"With those violent criminals off the street, we think it will help," he said, noting police were involved in the sheriff's investigation that went on for six months and looked into drug dealing and gangs.

Police investigators aren't noticing trends in why homicides are committed. Each case appears to be individual, Cunningham said. According to the FBI's national statistics, most homicides involve people who know each other.

Fort Pierce continues to have the preponderance of homicides in St. Lucie County, despite having just 15 percent of the county's population of 286,000.

In 2012, Fort Pierce had 42 percent of the county's homicides. By 2015, it had 64 percent.

According to 2014 FBI statistics, the latest compiled, Fort Pierce's homicide rate has been among the top six among 32 Florida cities of comparable size. Riviera Beach usually topped the list, with Lake Worth also high on it.

St. Lucie County's largest city, Port St. Lucie, had two homicides during 2015 and four in 2016.

Statewide figures for 2016 haven't been compiled for comparison to what is happening in other parts of Florida. However, violent crime has been declining in Florida and across the nation since the mid 1990s.

ST. LUCIE COUNTY HOMICIDES

The county's highest homicide count since 1995 was 24 in 2001. Here are the last six years.

Source: Police and sheriff's records.