The City of Kent is taking action to fix a crime-ridden apartment complex.

Mayor Dana Ralph says the city has filed a lawsuit against the Phoenix Court Apartments, which is linked to almost a dozen shootings this year alone.

Tenants were relieved when they heard the news.

“Finally, this place is so dangerous and dirty, said Kristina Cazarez, who lives at the apartment complex. “We’re standing on glass right now.”

Mayor Ralph says she’s heard from several frustrated residents like Cazarez as well as others living nearby.

“Just getting them in a room has been really challenging,” Ralph said. “Over the last year met with management on three separate occasions, but we’re just not seeing the action and we’ve seen an uptick in crime.”

On Tuesday, the City of Kent filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to have the complex declared a public nuisance.

“There are families here that aren’t doing anything wrong. There’s people who are just people here, and like it dangerous hearing gunshots, and then the police are here every night, like yes please do something,” said Kristina Cazarez,

According to the lawsuit, there were 576 911 calls for incidents at the complex between Jan. 1 and Aug. 7 of 2023. That’s in addition to 23 stolen cars recovered from the complex over that same period, 11 shootings, and 3 homicides.

In late-July, Kent’s police chief described the various calls for shootings as “off the charts,” with more calls to Phoenix Court than the city’s next three to four trouble spots combined.

The lawsuit asks the property owner of the complex to make significant changes. That would include evicting people involved in crimes, allow current tenants to move without penalty, complete security fencing and gating around the property, and the installation of cameras and better lighting.

“I think there are four cameras for 17 buildings, that’s not safe,” Ralph said. “We would like to see four cameras per building.”