While taking a few minutes to peruse NPR's website, I came across a staggering news article that became worse while reading it. The titles stated that as a country, we were averaging about 10 mass shootings a week for the calendar year 2021.
I did the proverbial spit take, and, after scolding myself for ever being surprised by this grisly factoid, I glanced at the article. It stated that through the 18 weeks so far this year, the country's experienced 194 mass shootings, where a "mass shooting" is defined as any event where at least four people were shot, not including the shooter. They don't need to have died, just having been shot.
Now, I'm a math guy, and I saw that 194 is closer to the result being "almost 11 mass shootings a week" rather than "about 10."
Anyway, to skip to the end: I clicked on the available Gun Violence Archive link and caught a glimpse of this just-concluded weekend---Mother's Day Weekend (because of course)---and saw the 11 incidents. ONE HAPPENED IN CITRUS HEIGHTS. Philly, Newark, and Compton were less shocking if tragically stereotypical.
But Citrus Heights? I can't say if I've ever seen the name of where I spent over a decade (and where Dan and Norm still live) in any random article about anything (where I wasn't specifically looking for information about it).
Looks like some dudes got into a fight at a bar, guns were pulled, four people got shot, and they were still fighting when the cops showed up. According to the Sacramento Bee's article, the shooting victims were recovering at the hospital.
No comments:
Post a Comment