Killing on Holton St.

To the Riverwest Currents:

Tuesday, October 1st, a 16-year-old boy was shot to death.
After hearing a gunshot, I looked out my living room window. I watched a boy collapse and die. It was a horrifying experience to witness. I can’t comprehend the reason a person could kill another human in such a way. What does life mean to those pulling the trigger?

I don’t know the answer but I can guess it means nothing. Why have people become so numb to these killings? The anger that is deep in the hearts of too many today is terrifying. I don’t know anything about this boy, but I do know that he did not deserve to be killed. I think of my nine-year-old son and wonder how one could have so much hate and numbness running through their body. Then I see people coming from all directions to see what happened as the police and paramedics swarm the area.

The people who were coming to see what was going on did not come alone; they seemed to make it a family outing. I saw a newborn being carried around by a woman, and children of all ages with parents looked across the street to see a boy lying there dead.

Why would you allow children to see such a brutal scene? I personally don’t know which event horrified me the most. Watching a boy collapse and die or watching parents come with their children to see what they could. Many of the children saw the boy lying at the doorstep where he took his last breath – thanks to the irresponsibility of those who should shelter them and keep them safe.

There were four people who will stick in my mind forever: one was a young boy riding his bike in circles on Holton Street as if nothing had happened and a young girl playing on her scooter. The others, two teenage girls talking about getting their hair done and getting some “tight ass clothes” as they walked up the block, as if nothing else in the world matters. Now I ask where does the hate and numbness come from? I can now understand where some of it comes from.

Thomas Pullen

Riverwest Currents - Volume 1 - Issue 10 - November 2002