Tenants of Crime-Plagued Apartment Complex Demand Change

They're afraid of violence like Sunday's shooting that injured one man. One longtime tenant is so afraid she also didn't want to appear on camera. "It could be me that got shot. We need more security," she said.

Her call for increased security comes one month after police showed up and Sherman Hills and shot and killed a murder suspect who fired on them. The problem-plagued apartment complex has been the scene of a major drug sweep in 2008 as well as shootings and stabbings through the years.

It's not just Sherman Hills tenants with concerns for their safety. Even people visiting here feel the same way. Matt Kohler and his pregnant girlfriend have only stayed at Sherman Hills for a few weeks and he wants out. "I have a kid on the way and I don't want the kid growing up in this kind of neighborhood," said Mr. Kohler.

Some tenants who have called Sherman Hills home for years feel like prisoners in their own home. "I don't leave the building after dark. And I'm not out of the building in the morning until you know it's fairly light out," said the man who did not want to be identified. He said he cannot afford to live elsewhere and wants to stay close to his health care provider but he and neighbors know that something's got to give.

When the woman who didn't want to be identified was asked if she thought things are going to change she replied, "Unless they get security to walk the grounds. They need security. Cops can't be here 24 hours a day."

Eyewitness News reached out Monday about Sherman Hills safety concerns to both Sherman Hills Apartments management and Wilkes-Barre police but had not gotten any answers by Monday night. One tenant is willing to take the safety concerns to the federal government by contacting Housing and Urban Development unless something is done.