Photo from WDIV video
Last weekend in Detroit was downright scary: 27 people were shot and three died.
At a block party, 11 people were shot, one fatally. In Greektown, one of the city's gem, which is normally considered a very safe spot downtown, three people were shot over the weekend, one fatally.
Despite all the good things going on in the city, and the impressive development in downtown, Midtown and Corktown, Detroit has a serious gun violence issue, be it on the streets, in homes and at gas stations and Coney Islands.
City officials are struggling to deal with the issue.
Robert Allen of the Detroit Free Press writes:
City officials say that while crime in general is on the decline, the number of shootings is unacceptable. They say they're working to connect with neighborhoods and coordinate within the justice system to make people believe that if they shoot somebody, they'll go to prison.
"We are down significantly in every category except gun violence, which is, of course, what's on people's minds," Mayor Mike Duggan said Monday. "A great majority of shootings are people who have beefs with each other and are using guns to settle those beefs."
The crime was worse than normal in a city that's averaging 17.6 nonfatal shootings and 5.2 homicides per week this year. The weekend's fatal shootings spread across three major Detroit areas on the first official weekend of summer, a season when violence can be expected to increase.
Homicides are up from last year. This year so far, there have been 129 homicides, as of Sunday, up from 116 during the same period last year.
Police Chief James Craig says people feel powerless, but he said citizens have to step forward to help police.
-- Allan Lengel
Related article at Deadline:
Carl Taylor: How to Combat ‘Urban Terrorism’ in Detroit Without More Lawlessness, June 23
