Videos hold clues to Greene Street gang shootout only no one's talking
- Jamie Duffy
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
FORT WAYNE, Ind. ---On July 5th around 3:30 a.m., when fireworks were still exploding throughout the city for July 4th celebrations, a college student lost her life to gun violence on Greene Street.
Eight other people were wounded.
Sources have told The Probable Cause that two local gangs opened fire, with no regard to the large crowd spilling out of a hall in the 2200 block of Oliver Street around the corner from where the homicide occurred, or to other early morning partiers at the “blue house,” a well known party house at the corner of Greene and Oliver.
Davis was shot in the head, according to a release from the Allen County Coroner.
A video from that chaotic event that went viral on social media shows young people ducking for cover, shooters shouting out orders and the sound of young women wailing as the sound of gunfire rages on.
Then, in one shocking and heartbreaking frame, thousands of viewers see that college student, Jayla Davis, on the ground.
“She’s dead,” a young male voice hollers, although which young man would be impossible to know unless you recognize his voice.
Figuring out who was shooting and who was liable for the bullet that took Davis’s life or the rounds that wounded eight others presents a numbing challenge for Fort Wayne police.
With so many people and probably a dozen shooters, videos shot during the tumult could provide clues. Eyewitnesses are also needed to help get justice for Jayla.
Estimates are there were 100, maybe 200, people in the street at that time.
(The blue house (l) has been a party house for decades, community activists say. The white event hall is a couple of houses down from the blue house. An FWPD officer said officers respond to calls for service constantly.)
“Investigators have observed numerous subjects on their phones and possibly recording the incident from multiple angles,” Fort Wayne police said in a July 5 release.
Community activists say it could have been so much worse. More than likely, most of the 150 bullets or so bullets were shot into the air.
Police say there were so many rounds, they wouldn’t be surprised if some are still embedded in the ground.
Davis was only 18 but had already completed one year at Purdue Fort Wayne after graduating from New Haven High School, according to her obituary.
The memorial for Davis encircles a utility pole on Greene Street. There’s a cross, yellow flowers, the letter J for Jayla and a photo of her.
Of the eight wounded and taken to local hospitals, half were women and half were men, according to a departmental release posted on Facebook, and suffered non-life threatening injuries.
The intersection has seen a good deal of violence just in the last couple of months. What’s probably the most disturbing is a 9-1-1 call that came in at 7:11 a.m., less than four hours after the July 5 homicide for “vandalism by gunfire,” according to the FWPD activity log, indicating that a house, vehicle or some object was fired upon.
Prior to the shootout, close to 10 p.m. on July 4, a “shots fired” was reported to FWPD.
A few days later, on July 10, at 6:44 p.m., another “vandalism by gunshots” was called in to dispatch.
The Probable Cause visited the intersection twice before taping a short video to show readers where the shootout took place.
On the first visit on July 31, a young man walked two doors down from the “blue house” to point out the event hall. Otherwise, the street seems to be strictly residential.
Those who want to help with the investigation can call Crime Stoppers 260) 436-7867 or call the police department directly at (260) 427-1222.
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