#GunCrisis Violent stretch persists: 7 dead, 15 wounded since last Friday (#Philly)

Posted: 29 Aug 2014 05:56 AM PDT Above and below: Shoppers look on as police investigate the scene of a robbery and shooting Thursdayevening in the Rhawnhurst section of Philadelphia. Photographs for the Gun Crisis Reporting Project by Joseph Kaczmarek. Click to view slideshow.Medics rushed a 37-year-old man to the hospital after he was shot during a robbery which was reported shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday in Rhawhurst. According to local media reports, police said the victim was robbed of $70,00 he was about to deposit at a bank inside a supermarket on Bleigh Avenue near Large Street. Surveillance video: The Philadelphia Police Department released surveillance video from this incident Friday morning: Wanted: Suspects for Robbery in the 2nd District [VIDEO] Media reports: Police told CBS3 that the victim was robbed as he pulled into the parking lot. Investigators told 6ABC that surveillance video indicated that the victim was targeted. Two masked men had been waiting for more than an hour before the attack, according to NBC10. Police said the robbers were driving a white Dodge minivan, according to Fox29. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the victim was shot in the right arm and reported in stable condition at Aria Health-Torresdale Campus. Overnight shootings: Two more men were wounded in separate shootings reported overnight. Police rushed a 23-year-old man to Temple University Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition after he was struck in the knee, shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday on East Cornwall Street, near Kensington Avenue in the Harowgate section of Kensington. A 24-year-old man was listed in stable condition after he arrived at Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood early Friday morning. He had been shot in the shoulder around 1:45 a.m. in the area of 60th and Master Streets in the Carroll Park section of West Philadelphia. Violent week: Since last Friday, 22 shooting victims have been reported in Philadelphia, including seven who died on the same day. Two women killed, two more wounded; among 10 weekend shooting victims Relatives gather at double murder scene Man wounded early Monday in Fairhill Two men wounded in shootings early Tuesday Teen killed on basketball court Man shot Wednesday afternoon in Strawberry Mansion Two men shot Wednesday night on Tulip Street Shooting victim dies after crashing into house Man killed early Thursday in Frankford As we reported earlier this week, Philadelphia homicides are back on pace with 2013, after staying behind last year’s rate through much of this summer. On Friday morning, the Philadelphia Police Crime Maps and Stats page reported 163 homicides this year, two more that had been reported by the same date in 2013.

#GunCrisis #Philly- Shooting victim dies after crashing into house

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 11:45 AM PDT Investigators look over the scene after a shooting victim crashed into an abandoned house late Wednesdaynight in North Philadelphia. Photographs for the Gun Crisis Reporting Project by Joseph Kaczmarek. Click to view slideshow. Medics pronounced a shooting victim dead at the scene after firefighters extricated him from a car that had crashed into an abandoned row house shortly before midnight Wednesday on Seybert Street near North 16th Street in North Philadelphia. The victim was estimated to be in his 20s. Police said it appeared that the victim threw the car into reverse to escape the shooter, backing into the house, according to 6ABC. The crash caused hundreds of bricks from the building to topple on to the car, according to Philly.com. The victim was shot multiple times, according to Fox29. Police told the Philadelphia Daily News that medics declared him dead on the scene at 12:06 a.m. NBC10 reported that investigators found 18 spent shell casings about 100 feet from the crash scene. Police said they will be checking several area surveillance cameras in hopes of identifying the shooter, according toCBS3.

#GunCrisis #Philly - Teen killed on basketball court

Posted: 27 Aug 2014 05:09 AM PDT Loved ones and neighbors look on as police investigate the scene where a teenager was shot to deathTuesday night in the Hartranft section of Philadelphia. Photographs for the Gun Crisis Reporting Project by Joseph Kaczmarek. Click to view slideshow. Medics pronounced a 17-year-old dead at the scene after he was shot multiple times around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday on a basketball court at the John F. Hartranft School, on West Cumberland Street near North 8th Street. Loved ones identified the victim as Robert Reid, according to a report from NBC10. Police said he had been shot multiple times in the upper torso, according to CBS3. Police said that officers on patrol responded to the scene after hearing gunshots, according to thePhiladelphia Daily News. Witnesses told police that as many as 100 people were attending a cookout in the area at the time of the shooting, according to a report from Fox29. Police told 6ABC that the suspect fired at least ten shots but no other injuries were reported.

#GunCrisis Philadelphia homicides back on pace with last year

Posted: 26 Aug 2014 09:25 AM PDT Above: Neighbors look on as police remove a body form the scene after two women were shot to death  last weekend in the Holmesburg section of Philadelphia. Photograph for the Gun Crisis Reporting Project  by Joseph Kaczmarek. After running behind last year’s homicide rate through much of this summer, the total number  of victims is back on pace with 2013, according to the latest daily update from the Philadelphia Police Department. One month ago, police data indicated that nine fewer homicides had been reported during 2014 than  by the same date last year, representing a decline from 143 to 134 total victims — or a six percent  improvement. But on Tuesday morning, the Crime Maps and Stats page at phillypolice.com counted 160 homicide victims in the city this year, identical to the year-to-date total for 2013. Above: After several fluctuations, Philadelphia’s 2014 homicide rate was close to last year’s pace  through the first 32 weeks of each year, according to data taken from Philadelphia Police Weekly Reports. After leaping nearly 30 percent ahead of last year’s rate through the first few months of 2014, this year’s  pace then fell behind and pulled nearly even again through the first 20 weeks of 2014, before the latest  fluctuations. During 2013, a total of 247 people were murdered in Philadelphia, down from 331 victims in reported  2012, representing an historic reduction of 25.4 percent, as we previously reported. More than 80 percent of last year’s homicide victims were killed with guns. Posted by Jim MacMillan.

Growing Old Gracefully.....

In a world where time can’t be controlled should there be mandatory classes for those who hit the 40 something mark on how to grow old gracefully?  Desperation hits a person who sees time flying by without accomplishing the goals they once set for themselves. For some, it’s even guilt of the life changing mistakes they have made. The question remains, Am I where I should be in my existence with my career, relationship, family goals and personal life?

As time goes on, you start experiencing issues of growing old. In talking too many of my peers, health issues are beyond one’s control. Arthritis, weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes, menopause and for some, experiencing anxiety and depression becomes symptoms that make them more aware of life’s most precious moments.

I was never taught how to grow old gracefully. It just wasn't a topic of conversation that you wanted to hear about when you are younger. I now look at people who are older and respect those who age with grace and tranquility. Those who do not stop living because their age is a higher number but whom still set life’s short term and long term goals.

I now understand the meaning of a legacy and want to continue to build mines on my life work and dreams. A legacy that my children and their children be proud of and remember. So, yes there should be classes of how to grow old gracefully for men and women.  With mid-life crisis or the more correct term “transitional period in life” being inevitable for all of us, one must go through a period of self-reflection.  A time in life when reality sets in and you start comparing yourself to others and start feeling gradually regretful and self-conscious.  

For most it begins when you start to have more questions than answers such as what is my purpose or who am I really? You have a few people who want to rehash their younger years by talking or acting hip. While others miss the way they use to look. For the majority the heightened sense of nutrition and well-being take precedence. So regretfully, we cannot stop the hands of time but we can all learn how to gracefully accept the change in times. 

Have We Squash MLK Dream?

HAVE WE SQUASH M.L.K. DREAM?

I never realized how many grandmothers were incarcerated for various crimes until I attended the Social Service Fair at the Riverside Prison last month. In an era where children are lost and misguided, young black men are going to prison at an alarming rate, others are losing their lives from senseless violence and criminal acts and single moms are not focus on marriage, we now have the matriarch of black families showing generations after them the example of what NOT to be like.

I often wonder how we became so lost. When our ancestors had a plan, a vision of equality and a better life for future generations did we squash Martin Luther King Dream. In his dream did he ever consider that children and grandchildren would be incarcerated with their parents and grandparents? And is it too late for us to get back on track?

Can we blame it on the Jim Crow laws from old to new? Can we blame it on the lack of family values and education? Or do we blame it on lack of cultural inheritance and ignorance?

In talking to these women who are grandmothers they clearly know right from wrong. But while behind the walls they show embarrassment and guilt. Only for those feelings to fad once they are released.

Think about it for a moment. We have individuals in their 50’s who are not due retirement benefits because they choose retail theft instead of a retail job. Senior Citizens who are not eligible for social security because many lack lifetime earnings?  And let’s not forget about the grandparents who now say yes, to drug and alcohol abuse and even a life of crime.

How do we lead the younger generations to meaningful futures; a life of hope when they clearly see societal ills all around them every day? How do we teach them not to become victims of circumstances when incarceration, death, crime and violence have become part of the norm in their everyday life?

Like so many other organizations that attended the fair at Riverside, we offered our services and a helping hand to those women who truly want to change but feel stuck in the present. After visiting our table they now know that there is help available at no cost to them. 

Now all we can do is wait for them to walk through our door.