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A28 u.s. news
Diamars 12 OctOber 2021

Gun violence claiming more lives of American teens, children

son’s death helped spur a na- offering a motive.
tional effort that resulted in
hundreds of arrests. Still, the Wilson, of the Children’s
pain never goes away. Defense Fund, suggested a
threefold strategy: Adopt new
On the day before Father’s gun legislation to strength-
Day last year, someone fired en background checks and
shots at a group of boys on incentivize safe storage of
the front porch of a Chica- weapons; invest in social
go home. The bullet missed services such as after-school
the boys but pierced a win- programs and mental health
dow into the dining room support for young people;
where 13-year-old Amaria and create more economic
Jones was showing her mom opportunity, including sum-
a dance routine she was per- mer jobs.
fecting for TikTok.
Studies have shown that vic-
The bullet shattered a TV tims of violence are at an el-
and everyone scattered for evated risk of becoming vio-
safety. When Amaria’s moth- lent themselves. So St. Louis
er returned, she found her Children’s Hospital devel-
daughter on the floor, hold- oped its Victims of Violence
ing her wounded neck and program that seeks to reduce
trying to call out, “Mom.” recidivism by pairing surviv-
Amaria was pronounced dead ing shooting victims with
(AP) — Gun violence is and this year is on pace to be No arrests have been made at a hospital. No arrests have mentors and offering coun-
killing an increasing num- worse. Through Wednesday, and police declined to specu- been made. seling, mediation and a link
ber of American children, shootings had claimed 1,165 late on what led to the shoot- to social service agencies.
from toddlers caught in young lives and left 3,216 ings. “I grew up in this neighbor-
crossfires to teenagers youths injured. hood and I’ve been around In Philadelphia, Chief In-
gunned down in turf wars, At Philadelphia’s Simon a lot of gun violence,” spector Frank Vanore said po-
drug squabbles or for FBI data backs that up. The Gratz High School Mastery Mercedes Jones, Amaria’s lice also monitor social media
posting the wrong thing agency released a report on Charter, five students were 28-year-old sister, said. “I’ve and if they’re aware of a feud,
on social media. Sept. 28 showing homicides killed and nine others were ducked bullets flying near my a team of officers and com-
in the U.S. increased nearly shot or shot at during the last head. I’m used to that. Not munity leaders meet with
Shootings involving children 30% in 2020, and homicides school year. Just weeks into Amaria. She didn’t hang out those involved in the dispute.
and teenagers have been on among people ages 19 and the new school year, two stu- like me. She didn’t know that
the rise in recent years, and younger rose more than 21%. dents and a recent graduate lifestyle.” A pilot program this year at
2021 is no exception. Experts have been killed. The school Philadelphia’s Simon Gratz
say idleness caused by the In St. Louis, 9-year-old offers a space for memorials While small children are of- high will provide intensive
COVID-19 pandemic shares Caion Greene died in March to slain students, often helps ten caught in the crossfire, services to students in danger
the blame with easy access to when someone opened fire with funeral expenses and of- teenagers are most com- of becoming a victim — or
guns and disputes that too of- on his family’s car. A 17-year- fers counseling services. monly targeted — often by a perpetrator — of gun vio-
ten end with gunfire. old is charged in the crime. other teenagers — in drive- lence.
Police and prosecutors have A March report from the by shootings on interstate
LeGend Taliferro, a 4-year- declined to discuss a motive Children’s Defense Fund highways or gunned down “We are going to have capac-
old boy who loved dinosaurs or say what prompted the found that child and teen in broad daylight on urban ity to get about 60 students
and basketball, was sleeping shooting. shooting deaths reached a 19- streets. into the program but with
on the floor in an apartment year high in 2017 and have the number of students we’ve
in Kansas City, Missouri, Two Minneapolis children remained elevated. Black Shaquille Barbour of Phila- lost, the amount of violence
when he was shot on June 29, were gunned down in May. children and teenagers were delphia was killed June 6, a and guns that Philadelphia is
2020. A man who had been Nine-year-old Trinity Ot- four times more likely than week before his high school seeing, we know there will be
involved in a dispute with toson-Smith was shot in the whites to be fatally shot. graduation — shot 13 times as more students who need this
LeGend’s father is await- head while jumping on a he rode his bike home from a program than we can get in,”
ing trial for second-degree trampoline. Police said she The fund’s president and corner store. No arrests have Dunn said. “We know it.”
murder. A probable cause was the unintended victim of CEO, the Rev. Starsky Wil- been made, and police aren’t
statement said the suspected a bullet meant for someone son, said a spike in gun sales
shooter had been trying to else. No arrests have been during the pandemic has
find LeGend’s dad after that made. Six-year-old Aniya Al- made things worse.
altercation. len was shot when her moth-
er drove her car through a Social media also plays a role,
“Why do we have to resort gunbattle. experts say. A posted insult
to violence because we’re can turn quickly into retalia-
mad?” LeGend’s mother, On Oct. 2 in Milwaukee, an tion, said Jason Smith, a ho-
Charron Powell, asks. “What 11-year-old girl was killed micide division captain in
are other ways we can figure and a 5-year-old girl was in- Philadelphia.
out an issue without harming jured when someone fired
somebody?” into their family’s car from Dr. Lindsay Clukies, an
another vehicle. Police have emergency room doctor at
The U.S. saw 991 gun vio- not said if they know of a St. Louis Children’s Hospi-
lence deaths among people motive and are seeking infor- tal, said she and her staff of-
17 or younger in 2019, ac- mation from the public. ten see repeat victims.
cording to the website Gun
Violence Archive, which Jamari Williams and Kentrell The Justice Department
tracks shootings from more McNeal, both 15-year-old sought to address the vio-
than 7,500 law enforcement, students at Simeon Career lence through “Operation
media, government and com- Academy High School in Legend,” named for LeGend
mercial sources. That num- Chicago, were killed in sepa- Taliferro. His mother takes
ber spiked to 1,375 in 2020 rate shootings on Sept. 21. comfort in the fact that her