City Council honors quick-witted restaurant manager

By Marcia Hodgson Resident Community News

When a suicidal man began firing shots on Hendricks Avenue near Panera Bread and the AshCo shopping center Dec. 6, Panera restaurant manager Mark Latham’s first instinct was to call 9-1-1 and usher customers at Panera Bread into safety in the restaurant’s cooler in the back of the store. Although police were able to settle the matter without anyone being hurt, there is no doubt Latham’s quick response may have saved many lives had things been worse.

Wanting to recognize Latham’s bravery as an act of extreme community service, At-Large Group 4 City Councilman Matt Carlucci has arranged the humble restaurant employee to be honored as a city hero during the City Council meeting April 14. “It’s a bit overwhelming. I just did whatever any normal person would do. I just did what came naturally,” Latham said.

Although Carlucci appreciates Latham’s modesty, he believes strongly he deserves recognition by the city.

“He’s a brave man, and he kept everyone calm while performing such a courageous act, Carlucci said. “You hear all the time that it will take the entire community to solve our murder rate problem and crime problem, and he’s a part of our community that stood up. It will take all of us in the community working together, and he showed great leadership towards the cause of having the community help in solving this problem.”

While sitting on the patio outside Panera, Latham first learned he and his customers might be in peril when Tiffany Ashurian who works at the neighboring AshCo headquarters alerted him that she had seen a man walking down Hendricks Avenue with a gun in his hand. She asked that he call 9-1-1 because she did not have her phone in hand, Latham said.

Mark Latham

Figuring that she must have been mistaken, Latham stepped around the corner of the store to see for himself. “As I watched him, he fired off a shot randomly towards Hendricks when he was still south of Cedar Street,” he recalled.

“It seemed like the gun may have just gone off. He seemed scared so he switched hands with it, putting it in his left hand as he walked toward me. That’s when I realized, ‘this is real,’ and ushered people into Panera. He fired off another shot as I was out of sight of him because you could hear it. It resonated through the street. I ushered everyone away from the windows out of view. He just walked along Hendricks on the sidewalk. He didn’t come onto the patio. I was on the phone with the 9-1-1 operator and realized the police did not have the right description of the man. They were looking for a black man wearing purple and I told them it was clearly a white man with black on heading north,” he remembered.

As Latham watched, he said he saw the man pocket the gun when a police officer approached. “I pointed out, that’s the guy. He took his gun out and approached three people who were trying to take shelter between the ice cream store and the railroad tracks and asked them for money. By that time multiple officers were there with their rifles out, and I was pointing to the guy. In seconds they had him in custody,” he continued. “Hopefully he will get the help he needs.”

According to the City Council resolution, nearly two thirds of all gun deaths nationally are suicides, resulting in an average of 61 deaths per day. In Florida, an average of 1,626 people die by gun suicide annually, with an average of 80-gun suicides in Duval County each year.

“Mr. Latham modestly told the media that he acted as anyone under the circumstances and just quickly reacted to do the right thing. However, with 100,000 Americans injured by guns each year, and with 100 killed by guns every day, the situation could have ended in tragedy without Mark Latham’s heroism. The City of Jacksonville hereby commends Mark Latham for his bravery, his composure when faced with danger and for prioritizing the safety of his customers,” said Resolution 2020-28.