No injuries necessary for shooting incidents to deliver victims of violence
On Monday evening, October 8, a shooting incident caused no physical injuries on Gladstone Ave. although the sight of numerous police officers delivered fear to this neighborhood. Again.
Gunfire exchanged by at least two shooters lodged bullets in cars and perhaps a house as residents escaped flesh wounds.
Police cordoned off this one-block, six residencesarea made infamous by open-air drug deals and violent activity. Officers inspected cars and searched a nearby alley while the 500 block of Gladstone Ave. shut down for several hours.
A similar incident had occurred in late March when several cars and homes were shot up. This second shooting incident in several months delivered more emotional and psychological damage as residents altered lifestyles.
“People get scared. Why one little girl did not want to leave her house to go to school. That’s how afraid she was,” a Gladstone Ave. resident said.
The woman asked for a shelter of anonymity, fearful that any conversations about street violence could jeopardize her safety.
While shootings of people gain media attention, incidents without physical victims rarely attract news coverage.
This non-reporting causes obfuscation as violence receives a free pass and the public remains unaware of criminal activity.
Gunfire does not have to injure people for it to deliver debilitation. Police have received numerous complaints from this writer and other people who live on this street.
The fact that some serious shooting incidents never get reported obscures the level of violence that occurs in the City of Trenton.