Last week a 15-year old and 17-year old were arrested for the shooting of a 15-year-old girl on the City’s far east side. Also last week a national newspaper reported statistics on juvenile homicide. It’s reported that juvenile murderers acting alone rose 30 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, while homicides committed by multiple juveniles increased 66 percent. Said one prosecutor, “it’s just kids killing kids.”
But, most concerning is that both victims and offenders keep getting younger, and the offenders under the age of 14, reached the highest point in the past 20 years. Just a couple of weeks ago, here, in Indianapolis, someone shot through a back window of a home striking a 10-year-old boy. Only the quick application of a tourniquet saved his life. The family would not reveal much information for fear of repercussions.
In December, an 8-year-old girl was shot inside a house at the 4200 block of E. Washington Street around 9 p.m. The family told Indianapolis Police that the shot came from outside the home. In another case in 2022, a five-year-old and a 14-year-old were shot and badly wounded by a drive-by shooter on east 42nd Street.
In places like New York City, 158 kids under the age of 18 were shot in 2022, more than the combined total of 217 in 2018 and 2019. That’s New York City, I know, but Indianapolis could be headed in the same direction.
Police cite easier access to firearms for juveniles and the surge in illegal firearms trafficking, among other issues. Sadly, these children of 14, 15, and 16 years of age seem to have a death wish. They often believe they have no future, and assume they’ll never make it to 21. Many have no natural empathy for others—often due to childhood trauma, violence, and neglect. To really change this situation, parents have to become more engaged, teaching and modeling integrity, kindness, and non violence to their kids beginning at an early age. Children have to learn from mom and dad how to deescalate disagreements, or we may lose them in even greater numbers.
Today, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department continues to solve murders from 2022, and have cleared almost 44 percent of the cases. Considering the refusal of many victims to give pertinent information to detectives, the clearance rate is really pretty amazing. But the fact is, 56 percent are still on the street.
According to experts, a person who shoots, randomly or on purpose, will most likely do it again. He will aim at a victim, or maybe just shoot up your house as he drives by. People die. Children die. A woman we know in Muncie was sitting in her living room with her coat on, waiting for a friend to pick her up to go shopping last month. She never got to go. Some kid with a gun drove by and shot and killed her where she sat.
This kind of crime cannot be something people should get used to. While we at UNITE INDY care deeply about those who are incarcerated, it continues to be the duty of society to guard and and protect its people—especially our children.
Nancy
Published by