Area shootings must come to end
Three days of gun violence in Steubenville have left a hilltop neighborhood on edge and an innocent person injured after being grazed by a bullet intended for someone else.
But, the cooperation of residents and the use of crime-fighting technology is helping authorities.
The one-block area around the 500 block of Maxwell Avenue has been the scene of numerous gunshots being fired.
These incidents of gunfire didn’t happen in the middle of the night, when the streets are empty. The shots rang out between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. That is a time when children are riding bikes down the street or out playing in the yard. It is a time when adults are sitting on the porch or driving down the street.
A 14-year-old juvenile was arrested with a loaded handgun in the waistband of his pants following the report that shots had been fired around 5:15 p.m on Monday. Neighbors are calling police immediately after hearing the shots. The city’s crime cameras played a big role in the juvenile being caught on Monday. Police monitoring the cameras saw the juvenile fleeing from the scene on Monday and radioed a description to officers in the field. Police had increased their presence in the hilltop neighborhood, leading to a quick arrest of the juvenile.
The gun violence has to stop. One innocent person already has been injured. The bullet grazed his head. Another half inch and it could have been deadly. What about the innocent children on the street, the grandmother sitting on the porch or the father driving to the grocery store? People should not have to live in fear of bullets flying in their neighborhoods.
Why do these young men have guns and why are they shooting at each other? Is it because of gangs, drugs or women?
Somebody has to talk sense into these young men, and the alarming trend is that the violence is starting with younger individuals. Think back to what you were doing when you were 14, and recognize that we live in a time when 14-year-olds have so little concern for their own futures that they become involved in the kill-or-be-killed life of the gun-toting thug.
It could only be a matter of time before someone, an intended target or a child riding a bicycle, is killed in the streets.
To prevent it, residents have to remain diligent, unafraid to contact the authorities and ready to cooperate to put those who shoot behind bars.
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