By Thomas Ellis II
The City of Newark is dealing with the COVID-19 Pandemic, and on some fronts losing the battle. But they are not only fighting the Coronavirus, but they are also battling the guns and violence issues in the city.
Just this week, Angel Velez, 56, was arrested for the murder of Salustino Santiago, 49. Velez is accused of dismembering Santiago in the South Ward a few weeks ago. Over the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend, there was a shooting in the 300 block on Avon Ave. near South 10th Street. Corey Thompson, 29, was ambushed by two masked men and shot to death while he was getting into his car in broad daylight. He was an aspiring rapper known as “Tripple Beanz” and worked with Fetty Wap.
One of the things I’ve noticed about the shootings and the killings that have been happening are the times and the ages of the victims. The shooters really don’t care anymore what time they are shooting up the block, corner, or neighborhood, with several children and people who have nothing to with nothing being shot by stray bullets.
Last week, a 12 year old was shot while in his house by a stray bullet in the 80 block of South 17th Street. In another incident, a teenage female was shot in the leg in the area of 828 South 15th Street in the South Ward around 8 pm. Eight shell casings were found by the NPD, and a car was hit by a bullet.
On the night of Dec. 2, there was another murder. Robert Angel Figueroa, 27, was shot to death in the North Ward on 3rd and Mount Prospect avenues. The NPD recovered a weapon in this shooting. Let’s hope that an arrest will be made soon.
With all these shootings going on, it’s really causing a lot of pain for many families. Can you imagine getting a phone call, text, or a knock on the door by a family member, friend, or officer informing you that your love one was killed or shot? It’s devastating.
A man was shot several times in the West Ward on St. Paul and South Orange Ave. around 7:05 p.m. It’s reported he was shot multiple times in the chest. Another man, shot and killed Nov. 29, in the 600 block of Hunterdon Street around 3:30 pm.
The times of these shootings should alarm the people of the city and the community. Many of the shootings are in populated neighborhoods, with people out and about, and really not thinking that a shooting will happen in their surroundings. But more than ever, that seems to not be the case, and people have to be more aware of what’s going on in their community.
There was a shooting in the North Ward at South Pine Lane. Luckily, no victim was found, but in some of these incidents people are being transported to the hospital by a friend and dropped off. There have even been reports of people walking into the hospital after being shot at a location where a shooting occurred.
The violence has seemed to uptick over the past several months with people’s property being in the middle. Bullets strike a car in the Central Ward last Saturday afternoon in the area of Springfield Ave. and Mercer Street around 4:30 p.m. Bullets are also striking houses, apartment buildings, and businesses.
Let’s hope that we can get control of this, because with COVID-19 hitting the city and the violence getting out of hand, we need more than shutting down the businesses, we need to shut down the violence.
