'He was supposed to be safe here,' mother says of son who was gunned down outside Palms home

When Cynthia Gibson heard five gunshots outside her Palms apartment Wednesday night, she immediately thought of her son. Gibson and her husband bolted outside to find James Jackson, 30, motionless on an outdoor stairwell.

“I just fell down and rolled on the ground,” Gibson said while lingering next to the spot where witnesses say the gunman opened fire. “He was at home. He was supposed to be safe here. Nothing like this happens over here.”

That night, Jackson was visiting a neighbor in his apartment complex in the 3100 block of Canfield Avenue. He received a phone call and stepped outside.

According to witnesses, he sat down on the third step of an outdoor staircase when a man approached. The man stood at a waist-high fence separating another apartment complex from Jackson’s. Witnesses saw the gunman focus on Jackson.

Then the gunfire disturbed the quiet street.

Witnesses said the gunman fled east on Kincardine Avenue. Police arrived about 8:30 p.m. Paramedics took Jackson to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead Thursday at 1:15 a.m., according to coroner’s records. Investigators have not made any arrests.

Jackson was the third person killed in the Palms neighborhood this year, according to the Times' Homicide Report database.

On Friday, nearly 80 people came to the apartment where Jackson had lived for 20 years.

He was a graduate of Hamilton High School, just around the corner.

The 30-year-old was remembered as an older brother or uncle figure to many families in the neighborhood. He would watch the children when they played in the street, unless it was a sport — then he would join in. “This community lost a brother,” neighbor Marcia Barnes said.

Jackson worked at a Staples and was in the process of becoming a dental assistant, his family said.

A lengthy line of mourners consoled the grieving mother at the spot where her son was slain. Barnes watched from the end of the driveway.

“I can hear her cries every day from my apartment,” Barnes, 45, said. “It’s a mother-son bond that was broken. His death is going to leave a big space on this street.”

When Barnes’ 16-year-old son joined the football team, Jackson would attend his games. Barnes recalled how the day before Jackson was fatally shot, he promised to help her 13-year-old daughter, Jazmin, make a lanyard.

“It's just so sad,” Jazmin said, holding her mother’s side. “He was a good man.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact LAPD West Bureau homicide investigators at (213) 382-9470. Those wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

Contact the Homicide Report. And follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

Photos: (First) Cynthia Gibson on Friday sits on the stairs where her son was shot Wednesday. (Second) Mourners gather for a prayer on Canfield Avenue in Palms during the vigil for James Jackson. Credit: Jerome Campbell / Los Angeles Times