ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. -- Hundreds of residents of PGA Village in St. Lucie West packed into a town hall meeting Wednesday night to express their newly found safety concerns to G4S Security representatives.
Omar Mateen, the shooter behind the Pulse Nightclub massacre, was a security guard at the security gate for the neighborhood. He was contracted by G4S.
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Security was tight at the meeting, no media was allowed to attend. Residents were also asked not to record the meeting.
One homeowner, Tom Lesko, spoke outside the neighborhood following the meeting about the message G4S conveyed to residents.
“This was a hastily called meeting…this was great damage control,” said Lesko.
Lesko describes G4S aimed to ease their worries, “saying that they’re sorry, that they are as shocked as anybody and that they’re not some fly by night company,” Lesko said.
Residents’ main concern was that Mateen was contracted to guard their homes after he had already been investigated by the FBI.
Mateen’s coworkers at the St. Lucie County Courthouse reported concerns that Mateen would make racist comments. The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office reported those concerns to the FBI.
“The fact that they let him go because of potential problems…and gave him to our association angered a lot of the residents in here,” Lesko said.
He describes some outburst of opposition in the meeting “When is your contract up?” Lesko said someone asked. “G4S said you can cancel it within 30 days notice at any given time…and then half the crowd would clap. Other people would come up and say 'I’d like you guys to know you did a great job. I like G4S',” Lesko said.
Lesko said residents also wanted reassurance that G4S is doing everything it can to screen the employees still guarding their homes and any future employees.
Lesko says G4S was not specific if the conversation at the town hall meeting with residents will spark any changes to their procedures.
We reached out to G4S for a comment about the meeting. By Wednesday night, we did not receive a response.
