FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Monday's deadly shooting in Fort Pierce took place in a community gathering place where families have been meeting for years.
The shooting occurred just before 5:30 p.m. at Ilous Ellis Park along N 13th Street, claiming the life of Nikkitia Bryant, 29, who was the mother of a 9-year-old girl.
The sheriff's office was still busy Tuesday gathering evidence at the scene.
Investigators continue to comb parking lot at Ilous Ellis Park in Fort Pierce looking for evidence from fatal MLK Day shooting. 30 year-old mother died at hospital this morning. @WPTV pic.twitter.com/6PHduDDdfg
— Jon Shainman (@JonShainman) January 17, 2023
The incident is weighing heavy on the Lincoln Park community.
Mary Sirmons, president of Survivors of Murdered Victims, lost her granddaughter to a drive-by shooting in 2010. She said it's important that victims of violence have someone and somewhere to turn to during these tragedies.
"It's not just immediate family but even friends and classmates," Sirmons said. "I hope the school system will be there to talk to the other kids. Trauma is real."
Sirmons agrees with other pastors that WPTV spoke with that a community conversation needs to be on hand, especially with young people, to find out why incidents of anger and frustration often boil over into gun violence.
Jerome Ryan, who operates the nearby Love Center, said the community needs to find a cure to remedy the violence.
"Cure is education. Cure is a foundation in God. Cure is programs that is custom built for kids that are raised in homes without fathers," Ryan said. "The saying says a deteriorated home produces a deteriorated country. When the home deteriorates, society will automatically crumble. ... This is what crumbling looks like."
Investigators said the shooting stemmed from a dispute between two rival Fort Pierce gangs.
A total of eight people were shot in the shooting.
