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©EvoCity Newspaper (Non-posed image)


The figures can be numbing: There were more than 2,000 shootings in EvoCity last year, and the city is on pace for more this year. The violence rises in the heat of summer. But beneath the sobering figures are personal stories, both of fear and resilience. EvoCity Newspapers' Francesco Serpico spent time around EvoCity to hear them.

An unnamed citizen has a strategy for keeping her three sons alive. She teachers her boys to stay away from the windows of their own home, on the back streets of EvoCity. Jade, the youngest, who is 8, knows why.

"A man might have a gun in his hand, and he can look through the window and see me and he can shoot," he said. "That makes me feel, like, scared because I don't want to get killed."


These are the practicalities of life and family as another summer of violence breaks over EvoCity.

Quote:I'm always waking up in the morning to gunfire. I don't even need to set my alarm. [I] can just rely on that BAM BAM BAM BAM at 8 hours in the morning. - Harry Enfield

Parents recite prayers so that God might protect their children when they are not in their sight.

Quote:I think [gun crime] is a bad thing, and needs to be eradicated from this holy land - Theodore Franklin

Like most cities, it is far safer than it was two decades ago. But EvoCity recorded more than 200 killings through late June and more than 1,000 shootings, both more than 20 percent higher than the year before.

Police officers even told Francesco how they would seek to prevent such heinous acts.

Quote:I think a lockdown would be great. To stop all this crime for some time. - Officer Nathan Rothschild

The same officer also stated why he thought it was so common for these crimes to come about.

Quote:I don't know... Some people just don't know what they do.

However, some people thing differently, a local gun dealer said that people need to express their right to bear arms in order to protect themselves from criminals who are lurking around every corner.

Quote:I sell to people that want to protect themselves [from criminals]. - [b]Unnamed gun dealer
[/b]

What does the president have to say?

President Arron Harris's office told EvoCity Newspaper that reducing gun violence is a priority, "We are very firm with weapon laws and we only legislate close range weapons to ensure protection of citizens and officials." When asked about how will he tackle the issue of gun crime he made the following statement: "We are aiming for more undercover officers to be employed in order to keep an eye on the streets and secure a safe environment."

The president also stated that people often overreact and abuse their right to bear arms, for instance "if they scratch their cars ever so slightly they feel it necessary to pull out a weapon and teach the culprit a lesson." His office also assures us that police officers are trying their very best to tackle all types of crime, however, due to a small number of officers on the force, situations like these are getting out of hand.


'Everyone has heard a gunshot before'

Andre can recite the rules of living in EvoCity: Watch your surroundings. Keep to yourself. Make sure you walk with a friend: If you're alone, a gang member might walk up and question you.

Quote:"You're gonna hear a gun no matter who you are," Andre said. "You're gonna hear a gunshot any day of your life," he said. "That's just how life is. Everyone has heard a gunshot before."

Recently two nine year old children were at a convenience store when it was robbed. The twins, Lloyd and Floyd, saw a gunshot victim on the ground outside a window at camp one summer, and their school is sometimes locked down because of gang violence, their mother said.


As a result, Russell has had to talk to his sons about what their family will do if one of them gets shot and dies.
Both parents, Hill and Russell, have thought about moving, but they said they can't make the money work. In the meantime, they will do what they can to prepare and protect the children.

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Evocity Newspaper, published on 06/07/15, republished on 07/09/15
Submitted by Francesco Vincent Serpico