Gainesville leaders discussed Easter Sunday’s shooting at TB McPherson Park during a regular General Policy Committee meeting on Thursday, intending to tighten the permit policy that allowed the event to happen. 

The shooting left three people injured, with a 20-year-old female still in critical condition. The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) released a video and asked for help to identify the shooter. GPD Chief Nelson Moya told the City Commission on Thursday that the department is aggressively pursuing leads and hopes to quickly bring a resolution to the case. 

The discussion on TB McPherson Park was added to the agenda while another item about economic development was pulled.  

City Manager Cynthia Curry gave a timeline for how the event was allowed, along with the history of events at TB McPherson Park. 

Curry called the park a critical asset for the community but recalled the serious discussions the City Commission and staff had concerning events in the area. Specifically, a program called Peaceful Sundays had grown over the years and became unmanageable.  

The city cracked down on the event, and Curry noted that in 2024, Peaceful Sundays stopped at TB McPherson Park. The event would start in February and run through August on each Sunday.  

Curry said the surrounding community needed a rest from the traffic and noise that were generated. These events often acted as catalysts for roving parties around Gainesville that were problematic for the GPD.  

Commissioner Ed Book said he spent many Sundays at TB McPherson Park when these events happened, serving on the GPD. He said those events were not, in fact, peaceful.  

Despite the city restrictions in that area, Curry said Sunday’s Easter event, dubbed an adult Easter egg hunt, worked through the permit process in order to happen. The permit said the event would bring around 400 people and last until 7 p.m. 

Curry said she never saw the permit request and would not have approved it. She said the city’s failure was allowing the event, considering all the history with Peaceful Sundays and the city’s concerted efforts over the past few years.  

She said it wasn’t a box that failed to get checked, but someone stopping to have some common sense and bring the permit to her, or someone who would know the context and know that the event might be more than it appeared.  

Secondly, she said the event should have been shut down once it became clear that more than the permitted 400 people had shown up, both in the park and lining the surrounding streets.  

City leaders said cars were parked along the road for half a mile, with some people arriving the night before to get a good spot. Curry also said these events at TB McPherson Park have a regional draw.  

Moya said the event was about to end when organizers asked for an extension, but GPD staff on site denied it. Moya said within minutes, an influx of people started arriving and gathering outside the park, with attendees aiming to leave, creating a gridlock situation.  

Curry said her disappointment was not being brought into the loop on the permit application when events at the park had been such a concern in recent years. She said her first actions will deal with disciplinary issues that arose related to the event. She did not specify what those issues were.  

“You all appointed me as the city manager, and as long as I am in this role, I’m going to do that,” Curry said. “And when I feel like I have been slapped in the face, and this is probably more transparent than I need to be right now, I’m not going to put up with it.” 

Moya said previous history didn’t come into play when looking at the permit application, just the numbers provided by the event organizer. He said the department didn’t let the permit go far enough to get a policy decision from the city manager.  

When dealing with Peaceful Sundays, the city of Gainesville moved special event permits from the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department to GPD. The police department now coordinates with other city departments on whether an event permit is allowed.  

Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut said no one has an adult Easter egg hunt. She said the Easter celebration had happened at TB McPherson Park the day before and had occurred without a problem.  

She asked at what point do officers call for backup when a supposed 400-person event is clearly larger.  

Moya said other officers were responding. He said it’s difficult to disperse large crowds once they’ve already formed, especially with the gridlock in a setting like TB McPherson Park. When dealing with Peaceful Sundays and roving parties that would happen, he said GPD would anticipate and get there very early to disperse the crowd before it reaches an unmanageable size.  

Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker discussed requiring wanding participants and future events, like for football games or even commission meetings. Book said the organizer bears some responsibility as well. He said he’d like to see the city be able to hold organizers responsible when their permit applications don’t line up with reality.  

Book added that the city has made large gains in stemming gun violence in the last two years. He said the city can’t take two steps backward now, but added that it’s been a terrible month and a half to go backward.  

Commissioners seemed to agree that the event would never just be 400 people having an Easter egg hunt.  

Commissioner Casey Willits said the city anticipates these crowds at UF games or when winning the national championship. He said it was a breakdown in city staff to realize that more people would show up.  

“It sounds like our steps aren’t adequate enough to recognize what we think is going to be a problem,” Willits said. “We have institutional knowledge; we know.”