Boy, 12, fatally shot after neighborhood cleanup

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CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- A 12-year-old boy was gunned down by gang members after he and other children had just finished cleaning up their neighborhood, police said.

Authorities were questioning three "persons of interest" in the shooting, police spokesman Matthew Jackson said. The victim, Rene Guillen, apparently was mistakenly shot by the gang members, Jackson said.

Witnesses said several youths, at least one of them riding a bicycle, fired shots at a group of kids who had been participating in the neighborhood cleanup program Saturday.

"This is a case where the victim was just a victim," Jackson said, adding that no one had been arrested. "Here you have a minor who was shot down by gang members who were shooting at rival gang members who had been fighting in the area for weeks."

The Rev. Ed Shea, pastor of St. Joseph's Church, said the boy's family had recently moved to the neighborhood. His parents do not speak English and declined to be interviewed.

"I feel sorry for the family," Rubio said. "They have no money, so we're trying to help them find a way to pay for the funeral."

http://www.cnn.com/2003/U...index.html

This kind of thing that makes me very, very sad... it really hurts me to read about things like this and I will never be able to understand these gangs running around shooting each other and innocent people. When I was a kid, you would get pissed off at someone then you would proceed to have a fight... you would punch each other in the face and body as long as possible until you weren't so pissed off anymore... nobody died and you got it over with like a couple of men instead of cowardly idiots who choose to kill someone in order to make themselves feel manly.

This kid was out trying to make things better and nicer in the neighborhood and he was killed by a pusillanimous asshole who has no regard for decency in any way.

As a society, what can we do to stop this kind of senseless and horrible violence?

Focus on a good, solid education. An educated person is far less likely to run around doing "gangsta shit" and shooting people. An educated person has hope for the future while ignorant thugs have nothing to look forward to but a short life of painful stupidity.

Form stronger family bonds with parents who actually take an active part in the lives of their children. The best way to keep your children out of trouble is to take interest in them and actually raise them right... help them understand that harming other people is never okay.

Legalization and regulation of drugs. The gang element is eliminated by legalization and the "rebellious" factor is eliminated, thus reducing the allure to a certain subset of drug users. People will always use drugs... criminilization of drugs creates a breeding ground for gangs. Just look at the prohibition era and the power of Al Capone and the gangsters of that age. Their power and wealth was brought by outlawing alcohol.

Neighborhood watches with actual police response to gang activity. I am not saying that citizens should try to interact with the gangs, I am saying that they should report all gang activity to local police every time that they see gang members. Keep the heat on the gangs and make it known that you are not going to put up with them.

Intervention by former gang members who have left the gang life. Maybe former gang members can talk some sense into these misguided kids and help them understand that they will not live long and that they will hurt others in the process of doing their crimes.

Anyone else? Thoughts? Ideas?

I think that gangs will continue to thrive as long as parents cannot make the effort to be around for their children.

I don't think there is a solution and I believe that a bigger police force and tougher sentences (even for first time offenders) are probably the only way to slow it down.

IceNine ~ I share your deep feelings about these acts. The biggest problem lies in your list of solutions. Forming stronger family bonds ~ parents who raise their children giving them a sense of self worth, values, a reverance for all life. How do we make this a reality? In my work with broken familes (mainly runaway teens) there are so often no fathers present. In many many cases, the kids don't know who their father is, have never met him or the father is not part of his child's life. In the last two years we have seen a huge increase in grandparents raising grandchildren. While this is admirable, sometimes it brings forth the question of how the grandparents raised their own children ~ the ones who have abandoned these "grandchildren". We see many more mothers incarcerated for substance abuse and sadly an increase in the death of young parents. Single moms working, often two jobs, are exhausted with little time to participate actively with their chilren. Kids are left on their own to complete homework (yeah, right), form meaningful relationships ~ any where they can, and fulfill their emotional and physical needs. They are quite resourceful at doing this at a very young age and are prime targets for predators, gangs, cults etc. They begin to work through Maslow's Heirarchy long before they can even read. Sadly kids have become an expendable commodity in our society.

Ice~ A fellow orger and I were involved with a group of 15 or so teens for a long period of time. These were kids who did not have support in important areas of their lives. We accepted them totally (unconditional love) and had a program that spoke to every area of their development ~ physical, education, emotional, spiritual etc. A strong element was that they worked hard to earn their own way to go on trips (Toronto, Chicago, the UP of Michigan ~ we took them everywhere). They had an area of property desinated by the DNR as their own and transplanted trees, cleaned up and learned to appreciate the environment. We spent thousands of hours with them ~ many of them unpaid. We worked with them during prime times of greatest risk for them getting into trouble ~ Friday nights, weekends etc. All of them improved the quality of their lives in several ways while they had the support and caring of the group leaders. Even when funding was cut, six of them DEMANDED we stay together ~ and we did ~ with money begged and borrowed from anywhere. Emotionally it took a huge toll on my friend and me but was also one of the most rewarding things we have ever experienced. Have you though of being a "mentor" to a couple of kids? You have so much depth and compassion and a certain charisma ~ you are a natural leader. It doesn't have to be a former gang member (although many of these programs are very effective) ~ just someone who is there ~ someone the kids can talk to about anything, can trust, someone who truly cares about whether they had a good meal that day, what music they like, did they get their homework done.It is a huge committment but the payoff is priceless.

bratchildsfriend said:

I have a lot of respect for you and I really think that what you do is great!