PALATKA, Fla. — Palatka’s city leaders are meeting with neighbors this week to respond to recent violence in the area, specifically the deadly shooting on Christmas night not far from downtown.
The city of Palatka shared a post on Facebook saying city commissioner Justin Campbell, Sr. will be holding a town hall on Thursday to allow people to share concerns over violence and possible ways to curb crime.
But not everyone living in the city knows where to begin.
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“Crime’s getting worse on a daily basis. It’s just getting worse and worse,” said Steven Hill, a New York native who owns a second home in Palatka with his wife, Hilda.
The Hill family are just some of the people living in the city who are wondering what exactly can be done to prevent future violence.
“I used to say, ‘at least we’re not as bad as Jacksonville,’” said Hilda Hill, “but maybe Putnam is becoming like Jacksonville? I don’t know.”
The new steps from the city to respond to violence were announced less than a week after the Palatka Police Department said two people were shot and killed on Christmas night. Police say shots were fired into a large crowd gathered in the parking lot of the Palatka Daily News building on St. Johns Avenue at around 9:40 PM.
Police say Tyree Gilyard, from Crescent City, and 17-year-old Dorrion McKinnon, from Palatka, were killed in the shooting. Dazail Dennis, from Crescent City, was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
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Longtime locals like Matthew Clements say shootings like these aren’t a shock after 26 years of living in the city.
“I think there needs to be a curfew, honestly. If there was a curfew, a bunch of this stuff wouldn’t happen,” Clements said.
Palatka police still haven’t named any possible shooters or made any arrests in the Christmas night shooting. The city of Palatka says the town hall going over the violence is being held on Thursday night at 6 p.m. at the Price Martin Center.
Action News Jax reached out to the city to learn more about the meeting, but we didn’t hear back by the time this story was published.
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