SEAGULLS gliding down and perching themselves atop buoys, party ships sailing by with whooping revelers aboard, and water bristling with the diminishing shine of a setting sun – on the surface, Jacksonville Landing is a delight of waterfront on just about any day, especially a warm summer evening.

It was supposed to be that kind of Sunday at the marketplace, a hive of night activity on weekends. The stage at the foyer had already been set for Jazzy Sunday, with popular local band The Katz Downstairz slated to entertain from dusk.

The day at the Landing, however, ended quite as soon as it had started. By twisted irony, it was a different Katz that was stealing headlines – but for all the wrong reasons.

The entertainment hub of downtown Jacksonville descended into chaos, and was forced into lockdown as David Katz went on a shooting rampage that left two dead and 11 injured.

Jacksonville Landing is a designated gun-free zone, but that did not deter the 24-year-old from training his semi-automatic on unsuspecting youngsters at Good Luck Have Fun – a gaming bar that was hosting a Madden 19 video game tournament that afternoon.

According to various reports, Katz – a professional gamer himself – was incensed at being knocked out of the tournament, and lashed out by opening fire. He then turned the gun on himself and took his own life.

I am no stranger to the Landing. I enjoyed myself on the two occasions that I had visited the place since I moved to Jacksonville a little over a year ago. I would have frequented the spot more often, but every time I was there my Spidey senses would tingle senselessly.

Despite all of its charm, there is something unsettling about the area, which has been tainted with shooting cases in the recent past. How was anyone supposed to be at peace knowing that at any moment you could be riddled with bullets with a pint in your hand? Well, certainly not me… no amount of booze was going to help numb that thought.

As soon as news of the incident grabbed international headlines, messages started to flood my mobile. I allayed the concerns of family and friends in Malaysia – my wife, son, and I were safe.

After assuring everyone in my family WhatsApp group that we were in the comfort our home, my father posed me a question.

Jacksonville Landing – it rang a bell for the old man whose memory does not fail him too often.

“Wasn’t that the place that you wanted to go to for your birthday?” he asked.

“Yes, it is,” I replied. “Now you know why we did not end up there.”

I have not set foot on the sunbaked grounds of the Landing in the last six months, but I was tempted to do so sometime in March when my parents, sister and godson flew across the Atlantic for a visit.

My family would have enjoyed the live bands on offer that day (which was also a Sunday), however I decided against it. We settled for a few rounds of pints and pub food at a nearby brewery instead.

My mother then posted in the group, “Don’t go to places that are dangerous, son. Stay safe.”

That was the common theme of the messages that inundated my inbox, with most of them ending with “stay safe”.

A worrying number of deadly shootings had taken Jacksonville by storm in recents weeks – what did “stay safe” even mean anymore?

I had not been swinging by bars and picking up fights in a drunken stupor.

It was not like I have been cruising through the ghetto side of the neighbourhood blasting Gangster’s Paradise from my stereos.

Staying safe was no longer safe enough.

Who would have expected a mass shooting at an American football video game tournament?

Wrong place, wrong time – it could happen even to soothsayers with their crystal balls.

Earlier this month, an innocent 7-year-old girl was caught in the line of fire after a gunfight erupted between two gangs in Jacksonville Heights.

The girl was in a car with her father and younger sibling outside a Mexican restaurant, where  her mother was about to end her work shift. While they were waiting, a shootout ensued between the two groups. One of the groups sought refuge beside the family’s car. A stray bullet pierced through the car window and fatally hit the girl in the head.

Was the family not “staying safe”?

America is the land of dreams… and nightmares if you end up with the short end of the stick.

Evil can cast itself anywhere, anytime – even places of worship are not spared.

In November last year, 26 people were killed during a shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Danger lurks everywhere around this part of the world, more so the moment I step out of the house.

It has grown into a habit for me to scan the room for the best hiding spots when I am chomping on my steak at any restaurant.

As I gobble the popcorn at the movies, the first thing I do when I enter the hall of a cinema is to take note of the nearest exit points.

I will do whatever it takes to be careful but what guarantee is there to “stay safe”? – August 27, 2018.

* Jonathan Fernandez reads The Malaysian Insight.