There were so many murders in New Orleans yesterday that a shooting near our house didn’t even make the news. Xy heard shots fired around 5pm. Apparently no one was hurt. A few hours earlier and just a few blocks further, a thirteen-year-old boy shot a sixteen-year-old boy in the face by accident. He’s in the hospital and not doing so well. Meanwhile, six people were killed in four separate incidents throughout the city.
Later in the evening, Xy and I walked to our favorite ice cream shop, which is about ten blocks from our house. We went out of principle as much as anything. Hiding in our house won’t solve any problems. Going to the ice cream shop doesn’t accomplish much either, but at least we’re out and about in the neighborhood.
Update — The boy who was shot in the head died, and two more people were killed overnight. That brings the death toll to nine in just 28 hours.
[…] It’s tempting to think of this as a post-Katrina phenomenon, but that would be a mistake. We should not forget that in June of 2004, eight people were murdered in just over 24 hours. We cannot blame everything on Katrina. It is a societal problem. […]