NEW ORLEANS — When a bullet came through Juan Cordero’s dining room window last year, close to hitting his granddaughter, the safety he once felt in his Spring Lake neighborhood went out the window.
“I’m like what is going on, why, why is this going through my window,” said Cordero’s
Just a few houses down, it’s happened to a neighbor Monday night. Cordero has lived in his New Orleans East home for 20 years, and points to at least two nearby apartment complexes which he says creates problems for neighborhoods like his stuck between them.
“We previously we had someone get shot by our gate right here, coming from the apartment complex,” said Cordero. “There are some neighbors that have moved out of the neighborhood.”
Outside his back door, separated by a wooden fence, is Lakewood Pointe Apartments, which is where he believes that bullet came from. Just down the I-10 service road is Willows Apartments.
“It’s an eyesore and it’s a menace to the community,” said one neighbor who didn’t want to be identified.
That neighbor says she’s been dealing with crime since moving to the neighborhood five years ago.
“I had an incident where the crime is trickling over to my property,” she said. “A guy tried to kick in my door because of an incident that happened, that originated in the apartment complex.”
That was two weeks ago when police found two men shot to death on Lawrence Road, next to the apartment complex. About twelve hours later, another man was shot and killed. There were also shootings back in May and March. According to police records there were multiple shootings last year, with a least one death. All on Lawrence Road, which is only 500 to 600 feet long.
“I hear gunshots every night,” said the neighbor. “I hear it every night.”
This neighbor said city leaders need to hold apartment complex owners accountable and worries about safety in her Lake Willow Neighborhood
“I don’t want to move but at this point, we just want to live better,” she said. “We want to live better.”
Eyewitness News reached out to both apartment complexes but has not heard back. Both are owned by separate out of state property management companies.