Kids caught in the crossfire
<p>Stray bullets continue to fly, striking the most unwitting, unsuspecting and innocent victims: children in Atlanta.</p>
ATLANTA – Stray bullets continue to fly, striking the most unwitting, unsuspecting and innocent victims: children in Atlanta.
More than 200 children have found themselves at the wrong end of a gun since 2009, according to Atlanta Police Department data. Thirty-three of those who were shot were 10 years old or younger.
Six-year-old, Princess Jackson, is just one of the latest victims to the many shootings spraying the city lately.
The kindergartner was shot in the back of the neck on Sunday morning in northwest Atlanta. She was inside her home with her mother, watching T.V., on her bed just before 9:30 a.m.
According to the incident report, the little girl's mother told police that they were watching T.V., when her daughter jumped up, screaming and crying.
Police recovered seven .45-caliber shell casings on the road in front of her house and three projectiles from inside the 2017 Ford Fusion in the driveway at 250 Stafford St., NW.
One neighbor, and mother herself, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said she witnessed the shooting.
“Standing on my porch getting ready to go to work. I just happened to look back this way and see the black car, four-door car. As it got by this white fence... the guy reaches out the car and started shooting.”
“[It’s] very sad, very disturbing. I wish there was more protection for the children as well as the grown-ups,” she admitted.
MORE | Child shot in NW Atlanta
The woman said she also wished police would survey the area more—get to know the people on her street more. Protect more.
“They should be able to ride the neighborhoods more often. To check and make sure it’s safe and ask questions to more of the residents. Just spend time in the neighborhoods to know what is going on,” she pleaded.
But, she said, there isn't much more she can do than be alert and vigilant to her surroundings.
“Just to look out and keep eyes out. Because it can happen anywhere. You can already be gone from home and just be in the wrong spot at the wrong time.”
Jackson was taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston alert, breathing and in stable condition.
Lamonte Jackson, Princess' father, wasn't home when the shooting happened, but was called immediately.
"[It] could have went either way. She could have got paralyzed too at the same time. It is going to be a full recovery," he said. “No child deserves that kind of stuff.”
When Princess was in the hospital, he said, she looked up at the doctors and asked, “Why did they shoot me?”
The bullet went in and out, with no major tissue damage and no major organ damage, he said. She has been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.
“She is back to being Princess. Smiling, playing. Doing everything she normally do. She acts like it didn’t faze her,” her father said relieved.
During the initial investigation, police said in their report, that the shooting was a drive-by shooting, with no clear motive. Surveillance showed a black Ford Focus drive down the street towards Troy Street, and then back again the other direction.
The license plate could not be identified and no suspects have been arrested.
District 3’s Councilman Ivory Lee Young Jr., said the Sunday shooting was senseless.
“Our regrets and support go out to the family of this young lady who is the victim of this senseless crime. Princess Jackson, a 6-year-old, should never have to worry about a stray bullet. Gun violence is just way too pervasive.”
He said, as a city council, they have always worked closely with Zone 1 and the police department.
“I feel confident that we are going to exhaust every resource possible to bring the folks that committed this crime to justice.”
He commends Princess' family for their support of her--asking that more parents like them in the community.
“It appears Ms. Jackson is the beneficiary of a very supportive, caring and loving family. There absolutely needs to be more of. I think that there are circumstances as to the previous incident that aren’t germane to this one, that have some extenuating circumstances where the environment could be made better. Could be made more livable and is the direct responsibility especially when we talk about multi-family housing units that the owners of these multi-family housing units would take more ownership and responsibility toward creating a livable, safe, environment for their residents to live.”
*****
There have been 230 children, 17 years or younger, shot in the city of Atlanta since 2009, including 43 girls and 187 boys.
Kids shot by the numbers:
- 2009- 23
- 2010- 22
- 2011- 18
- 2012- 21
- 2013- 19
- 2014- 33
- 2015- 38
- 2016- 41
- 2017 (as of May 23)- 15
Princess was shot just days after an 8-year-old was grazed with a bullet in the same northwest Atlanta neighborhood.
It’s becoming an all-too-familiar scene in the streets of Atlanta.
Beyond the blue, flashing lights and yellow tape strung from one side of sidewalk to the other, another child was caught living in the crossfire of violence and bullets spewed throughout the city without discrimination.
On May 10, an 8-year-old was shot in the leg at 1425 Joseph E. Boone Blvd., NW; and it didn’t end there. It’s an area that has seen its fair share of crime in the last year and four months, including 13 crimes at 1425 Joseph E. Boone Blvd., NW.
More than 1,000 crimes have been committed in a 16-month span, against the backdrop of a liquor store and multiple churches, as well as children walking home from school. Crimes like more than a dozen homicides, happening in the same neighborhood where two young girls were shot in less than two weeks from stray bullets.
According to the APD, there have been 1,071 crimes committed within a one-mile radius from 1425 Joseph E. Boone Blvd., NW, between Jan. 1, 2016 through May 8, 2017—and 261 just on Joseph E Boone Blvd., NW., including rape, burglary and multiple homicides. One of those was a double shooting and crash in November.
On Nov. 1, 2016, there was a double shooting and crash that happened around 11 p.m. Police said two men were shot at 1425 Joseph E. Boone Blvd. One of the victims drove his car to 215 Burbank Dr., where he crashed.
Young said that, that area has always been a challenge.
"Chappelle Road and Boone Boulevard has been a problem for years and some of it deals with responsible ownership. We've got a number of vacant and dilapidated apartment complexes," Young said earlier this month to 11Alive, following the 8-year-old’s shooting.
While he acknowledged there are problems in his community, he pointed out another complex down the road that he believes shows promise of what the future could look like.
Young took part in one of the regularly scheduled community meetings at Making a Way Housing. Police and city leaders meet with residents to troubleshoot concerns and complaints.
"They've engaged not only their residents but the surrounding community in an active partnership where they are dialoguing with neighbors," Young said. "We are pursuing redevelopment efforts with Making a Way that we feel will be transformative in the long run."
The councilman said there needs to be a fundamental change in, not just the properties around Boone Boulevard and Chappell Road, but also in the people who live there.
"It is such a tragedy that gun violence seems to be a response to resolving conflict," Young said. "That's not acceptable."
“It doesn’t appear that this was a targeted, but it was random and I would hope that people would begin to take ownership of themselves and would not irresponsibly just shoot and fire firearms that could result in incidents like this,” Young said about Princess' shooting.
Her father agreed that the community must step up to save their children.
Lamonte said there needs to be more crime prevention in place in his neighborhood where his daughter was shot by a stray bullet. He said there needs to be more done before it becomes a police matter.
He said, he has seen far too many young men getting involved in crime at a young age. The community, Princess's father said, plays an important role in preventing these shootings.
“So much of our own people, you know, we’ve got to guide these children. Especially these young males coming up. It seems like they have no kind of mind,” Lamonte said.
Sadly, Young said, these shootings can happen anywhere in the community, no matter the council district. It's why, he said, all of the districts and zones collaborate and take these sort of crimes seriously.
And more and more of the stray bullets are hitting younger children, like an 11-year-old who was shot in the leg just days before Princess' incident.
On May 19, an 11-year-old boy was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg in southeast Atlanta last Friday in the 1700 block of Richmond Circle, SE. The child was conscious at the scene. No further details were released.
Young said that he hopes people will come forward on these cases, in an effort to bring those responsible to justice. And that those who own guns, be responsible.
“We will continue to collaborate with our Zone 1 and Zone 5 and other jurisdictions within the Atlanta city area and with my colleagues as well, to prevent this type of crime from happening. But it is personal responsibility and accountability. I would hope that see more of that for those of us that own guns and own weapons, that we would take ownership of their use and use them responsibly,” Young said.
He urged the community to call Crime Stoppers at (404) 577-8477 with any information about any of these or other shootings.
“We hope that this is a rally cry for the community. It is important that if you heard something, if you’ve seen something, you say something. As a neighbor, we are all in this together. So, you get us one step closer to reconciling this and for those citizens on the date of this incident that may have heard something that could be valuable in our investigation, I would hope that we would get a call.”