HOUSTON – A local pastor has been told to stay away from a north Harris County apartment complex with a long record of violent crime, KPRC2 confirmed Saturday.
Dr. Edward Buford, senior pastor, SonRise Community Church, received a letter Friday from management of Haverstock Hill Apartments, located on the 5600 block of Aldine Bender Road.
"I'm there because I care about the community," Dr. Buford said.
Buford told KPRC2 a Harris County sheriff's deputy delivered the letter to his church Friday, signed by management from the apartment complex.
"Requesting that I not cone back there and I'm not allowed there and if I'm found back there, if he escorted off the property," Buford said, referring to the letter.
The letter follows calls for safety at Haverstock Hill, following a string of shootings over the past year. Six people were shot at the complex on March 26; two people died.
"They need to make it safer for the people," Buford said.
Buford joined residents and other community leaders last month, pushing for locks at the gate, armed guards, and security cameras. He said some residents are members of his church and asked for him to help.
"Give me a reason," Buford said, calling the letter random and without explanation as to why he was banned from the property.
"This time we won't quit," he said, vowing to push for safety, no matter what the letter says.
"We're going to stay with these people and we're going to encourage them to get what it is they need for their families," Buford said.
Calls to the management of Haverstock Hill did not return KPRC2's request for a response Saturday.