There’s been a rash of recent gun shootings in Wichita involving teen shooters.
Some of them have been outright shootouts, with police counting at least 50 shots fired in one incident. On July 11, four people were wounded in a 3:14 a.m. shooting at 2300 E. Murdock. The wounded were aged 14 to 19.
Earlier that same night, a separate incident occurred at Central and Oliver, where a Black male, was assaulted following an exchange of words between two “groups.” Members of one of these groups were involved in the shooting that occurred on Murdock.
Both of these incidents involved “groups” of young people, turning on each other. However, a shooting in downtown Wichita in the early evening of Mon., July 11 involved a group of young adults turning on a total stranger. They attacked, chased and shot a 64-year-old man who was with his wife.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the victim and his wife were walking in the Naftzger Park area when they got into a verbal argument with a large group of young individuals. The argument escalated into a physical altercation, leading to several individuals pursuing the victim to a nearby parking lot, where the 15-year-old male suspect shot the victim before fleeing the area.
The victim was shot in the left shoulder and the 15-year shooter has been arrested.
Where this incident causes me concern beyond the usual, is that this was no longer group against group. This was a group of young people taking on an older man and his wife who were walking at a reasonable hour in a reasonable part of town.
How brave, how macho, how much out of touch with the norms of society do you have to be to chase and shoot an old man and his wife? No, these kids weren’t brave, they were out-of-control little punks.
I do not know the race of any of the individuals involved and it doesn’t matter. Nor do I know what anyone said or did to kick off the verbal argument, and that doesn’t matter either. Even if this was a White man who called Black kids the N-word, that doesn’t justify shooting someone. Even if someone pulled a gun on the youth, I’m still left questioning what a 15-year-old is doing carrying a gun
I know this is an age-old statement, but I have to fall back on the question, where are their parents and other family members who should have some responsibility for positively directing these children?
I know children have a mind of their own and despite what you tell them, sometimes they go astray, but I still have to question the parents, especially when a 14-year-old in the streets at 3 a.m. and a 15-year-old has a gun to brandish.
Oh, parents, where are you?
