Yesterday, agunman named David Katzopened fire at aMadden NFL 19tournament held at the Jacksonville Landing’s GLHF Game Bar in Jacksonville, Florida. The shooting resulted in the injury of at least 13 people and the deaths of three tournament players, including Katz, who committed suicide at the scene. We have now learned that the owner of the Jacksonville Landing, Sleiman Enterprises, was actually in a legal dispute with the city over security concerns and other issues that date back to nearly a year ago.
The city of Jacksonville owns the land where the Jacksonville Landing sits, and leases the property to Sleiman Enterprises. Back in October of 2017, the city accused Sleiman of being in breach of contract, stating that it failed to operate the Jacksonville Landing property as a “high-quality, first-class retail facility.” Sleiman responded by saying the city was the one in breach of contract, not Sleiman Enterprises. Then in May of this year, the city of Jacksonville issued a termination of Sleiman’s lease agreement, to which the company referred to as a “non-event” and shot back, blaming the city for the “unfortunate state of The Jacksonville Landing.”
According to a letter Sleiman issued in response to the city’s attempt to terminate the lease, the city was supposed to provide “security, access and maintenance” to the Jacksonville Landing, but failed to do so.
“[The city] has provided none of these. In addition, the city has not even answered our Oct. 2017 complaint that states that the city is in breach of contract. We’ll have our day in court and we’re looking forward to the truth coming out.”
In the same letter, Sleiman Enterprises also accuses Mayor Curry and his administration of “bullying tactics.” “It’s a shame that our downtown – and our city – will never reach its full potential due to it lack of real leadership,” Sleiman said. “We need leadership that doesn’t depend on political power plays, bullying others and disingenuous actions.”
It’s clear by this legal dispute that both Sleiman Enterprises and the city of Jacksonville were aware that there were security concerns at the Jacksonville Landing months prior to theMaddentournament shooting. However, it’s impossible to know if the shooting could have been prevented had these concerns been addressed.
