Donte Lee is 4 and Kenneth Thompson is 6.
The boys are barely old enough for elementary school, but they are nonetheless among 72 youth shot this year in Baltimore City, which is quickly nearing the number of nonfatal shootings of juveniles in all of 2006. Last year, 79 juveniles were shot in the city.
“There is a culture of violence that is unacceptable,” said Baltimore City State?s Attorney Patricia Jessamy, who has been tracking shootings among juveniles. “The more criminals in possession of guns and the more kids that have guns, the more problems there are for all of our citizens.”
Seventeen juveniles have been killed this year, including two 15-year-olds, Christine Richardson and Maurice Gordon. Of those 17 cases, nine remain unsolved.
Of the 72 shooting incidents, police have closed or obtained an arrest warrant in 42 cases.
“It?s a cycle that?s been brewing for some time,” Baltimore police Lt. Col. Rick Hite said. “The opportunity to turn it around still exists. We constantly get calls from young people who want to turn their lives around.”
Assistant professor Tanya Sharpe of the University of Maryland School of Social Work said juveniles “have a tendency to mimic adult behavior” in a city that has seen 210 homicides this year.
“From the work I?ve done, a lot of the violence stems from unmet needs ? a lack of economic opportunities, educational opportunities and recreational opportunities,” Sharpe said.
Hite said the police department has numerous programs aimed at keeping juveniles away from violence, including the creation of a youth services division of the force.
But young people are surrounded by violence, Hite said.
“As a country we glorify violence, through video and movies,” Hite said. “We, as adults, have told them violence is OK.”
Jessamy said many people in Baltimore are “desensitized” to crime and that some recent data she?s collected show that 25 of 30 people have witnessed violence in the city.
“Violence begets violence and this cycle continues,” she said. “We need more people to step up to the plate and address this whole issue. We need people to take individual responsibility and make a difference in their hearts and their homes.”
