LOUISVILLE, Ky. — One day after an incident at Dosker Manor landed a man in jail following calls of a “break in in-progress," residents are reinvigorated to share conversations about conditions inside the public housing complex.
WHAS11 News spoke to half a dozen people living at Dosker Manor, Saturday, who said their home feels more like a jail cell these days.
"All I want is to be somewhere where I feel safe," a man who asked WHAS11 News to call him "B" for safety reasons, said. "When you ask me do I feel safe, I don't. Okay? I don't. However this is the only thing that I have. And I'm trying to keep it together."
Police arrested Anthony Williams, Friday, after they said he barricaded himself inside a Dosker Manor apartment, pointing a gun at two victims.
Court documents also reveal Williams was in the Home Incarceration Program (HIP) in September. Officers were alerted to a strap tampering on Sept. 10, and police said they tried to contact Williams, who does not live at Dosker Manor.
"I don't know what's been going on but this has been going on week after week after week," B said.
WHAS11 News spent two hours with B, Saturday, who opened up his Dosker Manor apartment, showing us the issues he said he faces on a daily basis: black mold, rodent feces, bugs and constant leaks.
Friday's incident was the latest in a long list of issues facing residents living at the public housing complex.
In November, someone shot and killed Antwawn Shackleford, a Dosker Manor security guard.
"I'm not making nothing more than what it is," B said. "I don't feel safe in my home. So how am I going to sit here and get my mental health together if I don't feel right at my own house?"
Chanelle Helm with Black Lives Matter Louisville has long advocated for those living at Dosker Manor.
"Those people over there deserve more than to be stepped on. People judge them for however they live anywhere in this city," Helms said. "It's just really upsetting that people don't have places to call home and they just go to a place and have to tolerate it."
Helms said she'll continue to hold Louisville Metro Housing Authority officials accountable until results come.
Echoing Helms's sentiment, B said he hopes his experience resonates with others and, more importantly, spurs action.
"I'm resilient like that. I'm going to make a way. I'm going to be good," he said.
Mayor Craig Greenberg named Elizabeth Strojan as the new executive director for the Louisville Metro Housing Authority (LMHA) on Nov. 29. She will begin working in her new role in January 2024.
LMHA has received heavy criticism from residents for years, citing mold, bugs and other unsafe living conditions in complexes like the Dosker Manor Apartments -- largely caring for senior citizens and those with disabilities.
"Those conditions are not acceptable for people to live in," Strojan said in November. "It obviously makes me feel sad and makes me angry that that's how people are living."