SYRACUSE, NEW YORK — If gangs or low death amounts are involved, don’t expect the media to cover the story.
In a likely gang-related incident, an 8-year-old girl and four adults were shot while gathered outside a home for a memorial service in remembrance of a family member who recently died of cancer.
But wait, there’s more.
Neighbors said the shooting took place outside the home of a family who lost a 20-month-old child to gun violence in November 2010.
Police said Rashaad Walker Jr. was sitting in a car seat in a minivan parked in another part of the city when he was hit by gunfire intended for his father, a reputed gang member. A member of a rival gang was later convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Police confirmed that the man being mourned during the memorial service was related to the Walker family.
While police haven’t connected gang violence to this shooting, it seems the likely case. Of the 50 people in attendance, however, it’s not likely that they were all members of gangs. The point of that statement? One legally armed person in the group could have stopped, or at least slowed down, this mass shooting attempt.
While the article makes no mention of where the gunmen were, it’s likely that they passed by in a vehicle. Either way, innocent people were seemingly mixed up in some sort of gang rivalry, and that’s an unfair reality for many.
Syracuse has a history of violence, and it’s not uncommon to hear about gang violence on a regular basis. That’s why residents, as innocent bystanders on some occasions, should be arming up and training.
It’s a sad byproduct of family members who choose a life of crime.
