Update: House raid unconnected to shootings

Less than 24 hours after Fort Myers was rocked by four shootings, officials established an emergency task force to root out the "bad guys" where they live.

Council members voted 6-0 Thursday for city administration to work with local and state law enforcement in hopes of putting an end to the violence that has plagued the community.

"I want to send a message to citizens that we're all over this and are going to be relentless," Mayor Randy Henderson said. "If there was ever a reason to push the envelope, we're there."

While interim police Chief Dennis Eads was updating the council on the shootings, his officers were almost three miles down the road raiding a home on Davis Court – the scene of two shootings the night before. Police arrested three men on drug or probation violation charges and removed an assault rifle from a house on the 2100 block.

Fort Myers police spokesman Lt. Victor Medico confirmed Friday that the arrests of the three men were not connected to the shootings.

One of the men, 36-year-old Corey Lee Cobb, who lives at the house, was arrested by the throng of officers on a misdemeanor charge of possessing less than 20 grams of marijuana.

The other two arrested are Quinton Marquiz Lubin, 32, of Braman Avenue, on a probation violation charge and Lemar Young, 45, of Live Oak Drive, on a charge of possessing cocaine with intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a park.

"Hopefully this will show the community that we're trying to do our part," said Lt. Jay Rodriguez, police spokesman.

Police have not made any arrests in the shootings, nor had Crime Stoppers received any tips.

In just under 6½ hours Wednesday night, seven people — ages 5 to 44 — were shot and rushed to the hospital. All seven are expected to survive their injuries.

The first shooting occurred at 4:25 p.m. in the 2100 block of Davis Court. Leonard Burger, 35, was transported to Lee Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Almost four hours later, police officers responded to shots fired near the Pepsi plant on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. They could not locate the victims because they drove themselves to the emergency room. All four people in the car were hurt, including 5-year-old Tazyhion Matthews. Chancey Isom, 26, Jatravia Isom, 24, and 17-year-old Orvasia Green.

As a police spokesman updated the media on the shooting at Veronica S Shoemaker Boulevard and Dale Street, 20-year-old Ezekiel Burger Jr. was shot at the intersection of State Road 82 and Colonial Boulevard before driving himself to a closed Marathon gas station at 4561 Colonial Blvd. Lee EMS transported him the rest of the way to the hospital.

The final shooting of the night occurred where it all began: in the 2100 block of Davis Court. Anthony Quinn Williams, 43, was driving his blue Dodge Durango north on Davis Court when the bullets struck. He got out of his car and ran to a nearby home for help.

During Thursday's budget meeting, Eads told the council he believes three of the four shootings are related and based on retaliation, but he would not explain in detail.

A SWAT team, mobile command center, K-9 units and about a dozen officers swarmed the Davis Court house with a warrant just before 5 p.m.

The neighbors went through their well-practiced routine — peeking past curtains, coming outside their house pocked with bullet holes, milling about the scene swapping speculation with neighbors and eyeballing the cops.

An undercover officer whose face was covered by black fabric walked out of the house toting an AK-47 he recovered from inside the house near the scene of two shootings the night before.

"We don't have nothing against the police if they protect us," said James Brown, who lives across the street from the house that was raided.

That same house was the scene of a shooting July 26 in which an 18-year-old was found lying on his back in the driveway. Diante Davis was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and told authorities he was walking through Harlem Lakes when he heard gunshots but said he only saw a shadow.

Council and community leaders had met to discuss gun violence Wednesday.

"The irony is while people were meeting to discuss that topic, there were instances of gun violence occurring at that very time," City Manager Billy Mitchell said. "It's the reason why the city and residents are concerned."

Henderson said Gov.Rick Scott and Rep. Curt Clawson, R-Bonita Springs, offered their support for the task force.