Perry Street: the promise, the weekend, and the grade

The week after the shooting

The Perry Street shooting was not the end of it. Police responded to a shooting on Bronough Street on Oct. 26 and an accidental shooting at the West 10 apartments on West Tennessee Street on Oct. 27. On Oct. 28, a man was shot several times at Magnolia Terrace and taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. A 15-year-old charged in the Perry Street shooting was transferred to adult court the same day. At an Oct. 27 press conference, Undersheriff Ron Cave laid out the pattern in the county's homicide data: people ages 15 to 24 account for the largest share, 85 percent of the young people involved had been suspended or expelled, and half had committed their first crime by age 12.

The promise, in the chief's own setting

On Oct. 29, at a vigil at Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, Chief Revell described what Saturday would look like: extra officers assigned to FAMU, lighting brought onto Perry Street, and the police command bus moved from Wahnish Way (Althea Gibson Way) onto Perry Street. One fact shapes what the city can and cannot do there: Perry Street is private property, which limits the city's hand on the street where the crowd gathers. A detention hearing for the teenager charged in the shooting was set for Oct. 30 and was canceled by agreement. He stays in jail.

The second Saturday

Early Saturday, Oct. 31, at about 1:41 a.m., a man was shot and killed outside the Jackson Lodge at 2818 Apalachee Parkway. That is a different part of the city from Perry Street, and it is recorded here as what it is: the violence reached another neighborhood the same weekend, before the Perry Street plan's Saturday window. Police have since made an arrest in the Jackson Lodge killing. By the Democrat's count that morning, at least 16 people had been shot in six incidents since Oct. 24. For the year, the count stood at 14 killed and 47 injured in at least 52 serious shootings.

The grade

It checks only the three items the chief named, against the public record for Saturday, Oct. 31. It also runs on the Facebook Page on Monday, Nov. 2.

Extra officers at FAMU: CONFIRMED. WCTV reported from Perry Street during the FAMU game that increased law enforcement could be seen there, and its footage shows officers at the barricades and a police UTV moving down the street. WTXL's reporter on Perry Street described a heavy police presence.

Extra lighting on Perry Street: CONFIRMED. WCTV reported that extra lighting could be seen on Perry Street during the game.

Command bus on Perry Street: NOT VERIFIABLE. No public report, photo, or official statement located by Nov. 1, in the Democrat, WCTV, WTXL, FOX 49, WFSU, or public TPD, City, or FAMU statements, confirms the bus was moved onto Perry Street. Not verifiable is a statement about the public record. It is not a claim that the bus stayed on Wahnish Way. I asked TPD on Nov. 1 whether the command bus was on Perry Street. Their answer will be added here.

If TPD or the city publishes an after-action record that settles the command bus, this entry will be updated and the update noted here.

Grade: 2 of 3 verified. Extra officers and extra lighting confirmed; the command bus is not verifiable from the public record.