Violence in the Hood.

This past Thursday a young african american man was shot to death by the Pontiac police. It happend at 3:59 in the morning in the parking lot of the appartment building right across the street from our house. I was lying awake when I heard shouts and then two double taps. Four shots from the officers service weapon rang out in rapid succession. Then it was quiet. I grabbed the cell phone off the nightstand and dialed 911. After about 10 rings the operator answered and asked "what's your emergency?" As I explained that I just heard four shots, she cut me off and asked rather wryly, "Are you on Dwight?" I said yes and she stated that the police were already on the scene.

I got up and went to the window and saw seven police cruisers in and around that parking lot on the corner with lights flashing. There was a minivan in the parking lot that was facing our window and the rear passenger side door was open. I could see that the window had a hole in the center of it where the bullets had entered the vehicle. The Oakland Press newspaper on Friday reported that four shots were fired into the vehicle and that three of them had struck the victim. His body lay motionless on the pavement out the drivers side rear door.

The victum was just 22 years old and already had a long criminal history. Just a week before he had been arrested and released on a concealed weapons charge! He had a gun in his hand and was raising it up to point it at the officer that was approaching the driver's side of the vehicle. The two officers were responding to a domestic disturbance call in that parking lot and were attempting to question the occupants of the vehicle when the shooting took place. Both officers are on paid leave while the sheriffs department conducts an internal investigation. Pontiac police chief Valard Gross praised the officers and stated that they acted appropriately.

I am so tired of the amount of gun play here in our neighborhood that I am looking for employment elsewhere and am willing to relocate. It is time to leave here and that is sad. When we bought this house 3 years ago, I checked out the neighborhood with the police and drove around in it at all different times and on different days of the week; I did my due diligence. It was a much better area then and it is surprising how far it has fallen in such a short period of time. It is time to move on.

While a family morns the passing of a son, a brother, and a friend I am thankful that he died instead of the officer that he was apparently going to shoot. He was the (unwed) father of four and engaged to be married and lived in Rochester Hills. Now there are four more fatherless children on the planet. I am glad that there is an increased police presence here, but it is a shame that it has come to the point that the police have to kill the bad guys in full view of the people who do live here. There are lots of little children here. No little child should ever have to witness a lifeless but still warm body lying on the pavement. It is time to move on.