A fight at Oaks Mall that ended in gunfire and two unrelated shootings near apartment complexes in Gainesville are drawing new attention to violence involving some of the city’s rival gangs.
Police said three members of the EBK gang fought on Valentine’s Day with a man in a jewelry store at Oaks Mall, punching and kicking the man until he drew a pistol from his waistband and fired. No one was hit, but the group – along with panicked shoppers – scattered. The bullet hit a glass jewelry case.
"EBK" is widely used in rap culture to mean "Everybody Killa," and is the name of a street gang founded in Stockton, California, around 2015. In some cases, local EBK gangs aren’t directly associated with the Stockton gang.
Court records said the local EBK gang operates across southwest Gainesville.
In an earlier incident, police said Patruan Michael Landtika Hare Jr., 20, of Gainesville, fired multiple shots from an assault-style rifle toward a group outside Phoenix Villas in southwest Gainesville on Jan. 3. Hare pleaded not guilty this week.
No one was hit, including Mykell Hicks, 31, of Gainesville, the man identified by police as Hare’s intended target. Court records said Hare was a “known, documented gang member” with the 43rd Street Gang. Police said Hare posed in photographs on social media with the type of gun investigators believed was used in the shooting.
A judge has ordered Hare to remain in jail until his trial.
Police arrested Hicks after he told them he returned fire, shooting at least 17 rounds toward Hare before fleeing inside his apartment, according to court records. Hicks told officers he wasn’t sure whether his bullets hit anyone or anything. Prosecutors charged Hicks with firing a gun in public and selling marijuana they found in his apartment. He remained in jail on a $200,000 bond. He also pleaded not guilty earlier this week.
In the Oaks Mall incident, police identified the EBK gang members as Ra’Jon Richard White, 19, of Gainesville; Vontrell Deshune Scott II, 18, also of Gainesville; and Kellis Marquis Kennedy, 19, also of Gainesville.
White, Scott and Kennedy were later arrested as part of the police investigation into the Feb. 14 mall shooting and remained in jail on a $750,000 bond. Scott turned himself in and pleaded not guilty. His lawyer asked a judge to lower his bail amount, noting that Scott graduated Newberry High at 16, was one of seven children, described him as having “strong ties and is well-liked by his community of peers,” and said he works as a landscaper and for his family’s business. Kennedy was arrested this week.
Police also arrested the man they said the group beat in the jewelry store, Elijah Levin Williams, 19. He is facing a felony charge of illegally carrying a concealed gun, since he had a previous felony conviction and under Florida law a person must be 21 to carry a pistol. He also remained in the county jail in lieu of a $250,000 bond. Williams pleaded not guilty last week.
Court records said Williams had previously fled police at 145 mph from an attempted traffic stop in September 2024. Under a deal in that case approved by Circuit Judge Robert K. Groeb, Williams avoided jail time but was sentenced to two years of probation.
Last year, in March, police blamed a shooting at the Grove Apartments at Sweetwater Preserve on a dispute between members of the South gang and the Bricks gang, which police said is active in the nearby Sugar Hill neighborhood. Investigators found 22 shell casings from an assault-style rifle and pistol. No one was hit in the gunfire.
Those apartments are about 4 miles from the Phoenix Villas, where the January shooting took place.
Police identified the gunman in the Grove Apartments case as Malachi Ahmad Rosario, 19, who is charged with attempted second-degree murder. A judge ordered Rosario held in jail until his trial, which is scheduled to begin in April.
Others arrested in the March shooting investigation included Jordan Tyreek Welch, 19, convicted in October on a felony charge of being an accessory to the crime afterward. A judge sentenced him to 71 more days in jail and three years of probation.
Police also arrested Laron Murphy, 19, convicted of possessing a short-barrelled shotgun. A judge in October sentenced Murphy to 90 days in jail and 30 months on probation. Police said Murphy posed in a video on social media holding the illegal shotgun, which they said belonged to Johntavious Reshard Peterson, 17.
Peterson told police he bought the gun for $500 on the street, according to court records. He is charged with owning the illegal shotgun, carrying a concealed firearm and possessing a firearm while under 18. His trial also is scheduled to begin in April. He remained in jail on a $250,000 bond.
The recent shootings have provided a window into largely unnoticed gang activity in Gainesville. Despite the city’s reputation as a college town, law enforcement officials said violent street gangs operate here and are often tied to gun violence.
Cases can be difficult to investigate.“A lot of times in cases like that, we don’t necessarily have cooperative victims,” said Art Forgey, spokesman for the Gainesville Police Department.
“People are intimidated by folks running around with guns and claiming gang affiliation.”Forgey said Gainesville gangs do not resemble the stereotypical West Coast gangs that profit from drugs. Forgey and a top prosecutor described them as more loosely organized and motivated by turf.
“These are hybrid gangs, local neighborhood gangs with potential national affiliations,” said Ryan Nagel, an assistant state attorney for Alachua County.
“A lot of our violent crimes are the same people, and they all seem to run in these groups,” Nagel said. “We realized gangs were a much bigger problem locally than we had thought.”
A local activist, Chanae Jackson, said she has seen gang involvement begin with children as young as 8 years old. She said children turn to gangs because they are searching for identity and belonging, and because their families lack resources.
“Kids don’t join gangs just because they want to,” Jackson said. “They join because they don’t have access to what they need, whether that’s money, stability, or even a sense that they matter.”
She said many Gainesville neighborhoods suffer from underinvestment, overcrowded schools and a lack of youth programs, leaving young people vulnerable to recruitment.
“There are almost no proactive programs for kids before they get in trouble,” Jackson said. “By the time the system steps in, they’re already being criminalized instead of supported.”
Nagel, the assistant state attorney, agreed that prevention needs to happen early.
“I want to solve things on the front end, so issues are addressed before someone ends up on my desk,” he said.
The police department said its strategy focuses on removing illegal firearms from the streets before they’re used in violent crimes.
“Every gun we take out of circulation is one less gun that can be used to hurt someone,” Forgey said.
He said Gainesville and Alachua County formed gun-violence task groups and worked with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office to target stolen and illegally possessed firearms.Forgey said crime rates in some categories – such as shooting homicides – have fallen.
The most recent statewide crime figures showed Gainesville’s overall violent crime rate among the highest across Florida. Forgey said he encourages community members to speak up when they see or hear about potential gang crime.
Silence often makes it difficult to solve cases like the one at Phoenix Apartments. Forgey said a “no-snitch” mentality persists in many communities, even when the information involves rival gangs, which discourages people from coming forward.
“That’s why residents need to know they can report tips anonymously through Crime Stoppers,” he said. “We’re not looking to create trouble for anyone or make it hard on their living arrangements. We just need the information.”
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