Kneeling on the floor of a city bus, Jasmine Wilcox held her cousin's hand and prayed. She willed her 17-year-old cousin to wake up, to move, to live, but there was nothing she could do. Kiyanna Salter, a senior in high school, was already dead.Here's a story from the Sun-Times:
Salter was returning home from caring for a sick aunt when she was shot to death Sunday night on a CTA bus, the victim of someone else's petty quarrel turned violent, her family said. Two men quarreled over a glancing touch on a sparsely populated bus, one fired shots, and yet another Chicago Public School student's life was taken.
The shooting was sadly reminiscent of the killing of another Julian High School student, Blair Holt, who was also shot to death on a CTA bus in 2007. The 16-year-old was killed while trying to shield another teen from a gang member's bullets.
The shooting was a chilling reminder to many of the 2007 fatal shooting of another Julian student -- honor student Blair Holt. He was on his way home when he was shot on the No. 103 at 103rd and Halsted.OK, well I won't editorialize on the attempt to draw parallels. Going back to the current story it just sounds so incredibly dumb to shoot because some guy accidentally touched your hand. I'm literally against gun control but this guy
"I was numb,'' said Ron Holt, Blair's father. "You can't pat people down [on a bus]. And look at what we get. It seems like it's the young and innocent who get killed.''
Wilcox said the argument between the two men started because one man accidently touched the hand of the other as he was getting off the bus.
There was a short exchange of threats, and she thought one displayed a handgun on the bus, Wilcox said. The other man then got of the bus and took out his own gun, firing back through the back door where the cousins were sitting.
If someone accidentally touching your hand is one reason to start shooting you don't need to have possession of a gun, period.
The Tribune talked to Blair Holt's father:
Ronald Holt was jolted from near sleep Sunday night when he heard the news. Another Julian High School student was shot on a CTA bus. Another innocent believed to be caught in the middle of someone else's beef. His thoughts, of course, went to Blair.Here's something else to check out for those of you from the same article:
His son, Blair Holt, was shot on a CTA bus on May 10, 2007. The 16-year-old Julian student was shielding another teen from the spray of a gang member's bullets when he was killed.
...
"It left me . . . distraught," he said Monday. "Aside from it being [an] almost identical, worst-case-scenario as Blair's fate was that day, but thinking also of another young, promising, productive life that has been cut short. Another life that has been taken too soon. That is the damaging and damning part in all of this."
They started a group, www.purposeoverpain.com, with other parents of children killed by gun violence to provide peer support and push for "common sense gun legislation."Yeah let's find a way to end gun violence. I want to know the how. I'd like a way to prevent stories like this. To keep minor spats from turning into murder and at that keep those who weren't even involved in that spat from getting hurt or killed.
Holt says that doesn't mean taking guns away from law-abiding citizens but making it harder for criminals to get them.
Holt is also working on another idea, the Blair Holt Alliance Against Gun Violence, with a goal that "it's every citizen's civil right to end gun violence."
Holt admits it's a lofty idea. But he says good gun legislation, coupled with parental and personal responsibility for youths and a push from communities to fight tolerance of violence, could help.
Previous posts
Surveillance clues in CTA Bus shooting
1 dead after CTA bus shooting
What in the world is going on in the minds our our young black men? Why in the world do they need and carry guns? Homeowners have guns to protect their homes, law officers carry weapons as a requirement of their jobs. Milton Wilson, the young man wanted for the murder of Kiyanna Salter, doesn't own a home to protect...he doesn't even own a CAR! He is simply a scared, confused and wanna be man walking around with a concealed weapon to use on someone if he feels disrespected. Our young black men have no reas sense of manhood. Their vision of relating to manhood is blurred with entertainments visions of being gun toting thugs ready to shoot anyone who looks at them wrong. Why is it so easy for a young black man to feel "disrespected" by their peers? These kids have such low self esteem that they resort to a false sense of security by weilding guns. Our young black men lack the mental capacity to exhibit conflict resolution skills, empathy and restraint. In the end, after killing someone, the thug may or may not realize that he is truly not a man because he runs and hides. They don't realize that "MEN" hold themselves accountable for their actions..."MEN" don't make excuses for their actions..."MEN" accept consequences to their actions....Thugs are cowards that shoot, run and hide...So, we challenge these thugs to become men sooner than later,...stop the gunplay because you are NOT man enough to accept the consequences...Learn to deal with disagreements through restraint and empathy...learn that your manhood is NOT always on the line by someone not liking you...Love yourself and learn to ignore adverse scenarios. Learning to pick your battles is the test of a real man...remember 'STICKS AND STONES MAY BREAK MAY BONES, BUT WORDS CAN NEVER HURT ME!?" This little ditty kept my head on straight so many times as a youth...God save our children....
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