UPDATED — From the Harford County Sheriff’s Office:
(Edgewood, MD – October 3, 2010 – 7:00 p.m.) On Saturday, October 2, 2010 at approximately 8:54 pm, Harford County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to the 1200 block of Clover Valley Way in Edgewood, MD 21040 for a reported shooting.
Upon arrival, deputies observed a vehicle in front of the victim’s residence, which was located in the 1200 block of Clover Valley Way in Edgewood. The victim, who was seated in the driver’s side of the vehicle, had been shot multiple times in the upper torso and was unresponsive when deputies arrived. Shakir Derrick Wingate, age 16 of the 1200 block of Clover Valley Way in Edgewood, MD was transported to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, by Joppa Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company, where he was pronounced deceased.
Through investigation and witness statements, detectives were able to quickly identify a suspect in the homicide. With assistance from a Maryland State Police K9 trooper and his bloodhound, deputies were able to locate the suspect in his residence, just a short distance from the crime scene. A motive has not been determined at this time, but it has been established that the two young men had prior knowledge of each other. This does not appear to be a random act of violence.
Michael S. Jones Jr, age 18, of the 1300 block of Rainbow Way in Edgewood MD has been charged with 1st degree murder, 2nd degree murder, 1st degree assault and Use of a handgun in a violent crime in connection with the homicide of Shakir D. Wingate. Mr. Jones was transported to the Harford County Detention Center. He is being held without bail.
Prayers go out to the family. Edgewood I put out a plea to stand up and shout “not in my neighborhood”. There are no amount of cameras, patrols, or campaign slogans that will correct this. It will take the community saying “enough”. Area leaders – stop putting band-aids on the problem and address the issue of the recurring problems, even if it means being politically vulnerable. KICK THE GANGS AND REPEAT OFFENDERS OUT OF SUBSIDIZED HOUSING…or are you too worried about your votes and how that would look.
Welcome to the war zone.
Hang on Edgewood, New Leadership is coming to the Sheriff’s Department.
yeah, we’ll see. Same old whore in a different red dress, all of them. I have no hope anymore.
BigBlue,
New leadership will not change these types of events (unless you know something that mostly everyone does not know) or is it just an off the cuff remark. You made the comment . . . so explain it . . . how will new leadership in the SO counter these types of events? Can you lay it out in detail. Give us something? Give the people in Edgewood something. Anything !!!
He doesn’t have anything. He is constantly on here plugging Republican bullet points.
Watcher,
These are not Republican plugs. The remarks are BigBlue’s attempt at explaining high crime in Edgewood and attribuing it to the current leadership in the HCSO. The comments he (or she) made could be Democrat, Republican, or Independent. In my opinion, his (or her) comments are more Democrat like (liberal) because they attempt to place the blame for crime with society (social learning, strain, conflict, labling). However, it a very weak association if any at all. On the other hand, Rebublicans (conservative) tend to place the blame with the individual (rational choice for example). The fact is, crime is probably the result of both the individualist and societal aspects. BigBlue’s idea that crime will go down in Edgewood pursuant to new leadership in the HCSO is obviously based upon his/her own opinion and nothing more (no facts, no support).
With all that said, your Democrat talking points (blaming the other party) will not work here. Many have learned that lesson the hard way by seeing what the dummies (Democrats) in the White House, Congress, and Senate are doing to this country.
It is my impression from the debates that Jeff Gahler intends to put more officers on the street. All 4 Republican candidates stated that Jesse Bane’s top heavy in terms of administration and special units. In addition, it was reported that Jesse Bane extensively micromananges which causes the Department to function inefficiently.
BigBlue,
How does he intend to accomplish this? Will the deputies pick up the work load if the specialized units are disbanded or down-sized? I will agree that patrol typically takes the hit when personnel are needed for a specialized unit or special event, but sometimes these units do work that patrol deputies do not have the time to do. I will also agree that the SO is a bit top heavy. This started back with Meadows; actually even before Meadows. Is candidate Gahler going to ask for funding to hire more deputies? It takes five deputies (or officers) to put one office on the street 24 hours a day (considering days off, sick leave, annual, personal, comp leave and administrative time such as court and report writing). In other words, and making it easy, if 20 deputies are hired, that means that four additional deputies will be on the street at any one time. Here’s another question: Do we put them all in Edgewood? What about the tax payers in Abingdon, Bel Air, Fallston, etc. Do they get a slice of the pie?
As I said in an earlier post, none of the candidates can do much about crime. This murder would have occurred regardless of the number of police officers on the street. Putting four or five more cops on the street will not reduce crime in Edgewood.
As far as I can see, this didn’t take place in subsidized housing; it occurred in a single family home in Woodbridge. This home is just up the street from my family, and I am FURIOUS that this is what has become of my community. Who is raising these children? Who is teaching them that you don’t solve a problem with a loaded weapon?
No one, that’s who. Babies are having babies who are having babies. It seems that no one has any sense anymore.
You’re right WW, it wasn’t the projects. I live right here too. I heard the sirens, they were closer than normal. I thought “Damn
what the hell now?” My neighborhood is filled with decent, hardworking, good people with families. My husband served this country during war time overseas. I have a legal, full time job. I work long, hard hours in this community. I see people from all walks of life at their worst. I don’t ask questions (when not appropriate) and I don’t judge. And yes, I do pay my taxes and a whole hell of alot of them. My point is my neighbors and I deserve to live in a safe, clean community. We are respectable citizens who contribute to this county. Just because we live in the South part of the county doesn’t mean that we should expect this kind of violence to happen. The attitude shouldn’t be “welcome to the war zone”. It needs to be “get the fuck out of my community if you have no respect for human life”. I want to know what it’s going to take to make some changes. I WILL find out how you start a neighborhood watch and I WILL start one. I will patrol the neighborhood with an RPG if I have to to keep us safe.
I am pissed off that this happened here. I am pissed that people are not taking accountability for their actions. People need to start discipling their kids and start raising them to be productive members of society. Take some responsibility for you kid, grandkid, neice or nephew and mentor them into decent adults. Is that so freakin’ hard?!?! My parents did it, the parents of my friends did it, so what the hell!? Stop reproducing like lab rats and stop making it the norm and “a blessing” to be a mom at 16, grandma at 35, great grandma at 55 and great great grandma at 75. This is not normal!!
It is thought that this was not a random crime. That’s not the issue. The issue is that a boy was shot multiple times in a car in a neighborhood where kids play, families have parties, and people still talk on their front stoops to their neighbors. We decorate for holidays, we like to leave our windows open to catch a breeze in the summer. We expect a degree of safety and having a child shot to death is a major fail!! I’m asking you, what do we need to do??
My deepest sympathy goes out to the family of the deceased boy. Losing a child is a parent’s worst nightmare. I pray for comfort for you and may justice be served swiftly and severely to the guilty party. To the guily, may God have mercy on your soul.
I also want to tell people (the family/friends of the accused) to save their energy and do not try to explain what really happened, tell me who really should be at fault, or rattle off some weak defense. I don’t want to hear it. The bottom line is everyone is responsible, all of us. Kids killing kids is a social pandemic. And I ask you again, what do we do?
I respect your commentary about mine. It was a quick hit on my part based out of frustration for the good folks of the area where I grew up. Woodbridge was a corn field where we rode motorcycles in my day. The worst thing that happened there was when my friend Tommy broke his arm when he wrecked his dirt bike. I still have friends with family members in Harford Square, and I am appalled. In my opinion, this act of extreme violence is part of the whole gang/thug mentality that the children of Edgewood have been forced to grow up in and around. I would very much like to see Edgewood incorporate, get a police force, town council, etc. The county keeps dumping a huge amount of resources into the community, and as I’ve said before, there surely must be some good people in Edgewood who would be willing to step up and pay a town tax as well, if it would mean better safety and services. Prayers to all in the community.
I went to school and spent a great deal of my teenage years in Edgewood. It was nothing like it is today. There was no Meadowood; no Edgewater Village; no Harford Square; no Woodbridge. Yes there were thugs back then—less than today—and mostly from the Battle Street area, and perhaps Edgewood Heights. But it was nothing like it is now. Yes, I do believe that subsidized housing played (and plays) a major part in the state of Edgewood as we know it today. However, it is not necessarily the people who live there that are committing crime; it is the people they attract to the area that boosts violence in the area. Besides being easy prey for the thugs, there are other things that attract the no-good (unsupervised young males) to subsidized housing . . . guess what that is?
Great job deputies and State Pogreat troopers, great to see you guys grabbing these thugs so quickly. I don’t think that there is hardly a crime I see on this blog that is not busted by you guys. I also appreciate how well you work together and most of us are very proud of your hard work. Harford countians the crime numbers don’t lie, don’t fall prey to propaganda created by the approaching election! From Uniform Crime Reports: Murders down 33%; Robbery down 7%; Burglary down 30%; Theft down 5%; Rape down 9%. If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it!
I would also like to extend my prayers to the young man killed in this terrible act and his family.
I live right there, I heard the sirens. They were closer than normal and I thought “what the hell now?!” My neighborhood isn’t bad. Decent, hard working, good people with families live here. My husband served this country and was deployed overseas. I have a legal, full time job. I put in long, hard hours and I help people in this community from all walks of life. I see people at their worst, I don’t ask questions (when not appropriate) and I don’t judge, I just help. And yes, I pay my taxes. All I want is for people to take accountability for this community and stand up to the shit bags that are making it scarey for all of us. I’m sick of it and I want to know what it’s going to take to make some changes. I WILL find out how to start a neighborhood watch and I WILL start it. If I have to, I will patrol the neighborhood with an RPG until something gives. This is getting xxx ridiculous. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure my community watch will have weak participation and I’ll probably get death threats for standing up for what is right. People need to get control of their kids before it’s too late. I feel terrible for the family of the victim, this is a parent’s worst nightmare. I feel terrible for the family of the accused because obviously they xxx up and they should feel awful. Kids killing kids!!! Take some responsibility for your child, your grandchild, neice or nephew. Mentor them into productive citizens instead of a tax burden. This is a crying shame and I am pissed that this happened in my back yard. This is thought not to be a random crime but that’s not the point. It’s still a crime that occured where children play and famlies live. What are we going to do?
And before people (famly/friends of the accused) respond with all kinds of reasons about why this happened, who’s at fault and who really should be blamed I’m telling you right now I don’t want to hear it. A kid is dead and another kid has thown away his life. We are all responsible. Like I asked before, what are we going to do?
“We are all responsible” ??????? How do you figure that?
He looks like such a nice young man… I’m sure he never had any earlier contact with law enforcement.
Who wants to bet he spends more than 8 years behind bars for making someone dead forever?
Hey ‘Aberdean’, since I’ll take it by your screen name you live in Aberdeen, thanks for throwing out another campaign plug which equates to diddly squat when it comes to gun crimes percentages where the victims do not die (hence NOT A HOMICIDE). Stop playing with the stats because bottom line you can turn around and arrest someone within 12 hours of an incident and beat your chest, but if it keeps recurring what ground have you gained. Thats like busting speeders in a school zone day in and day out and bragging about how many tickets you handed out. Eventually you need to look at why speeders are getting the message and put some teeth into a resolution. Stop wasting my tax dollars Harford County..and since your from Aberdeen take a gander at what the Sheriff did up there years ago to clean house…maybe we can take note. There needs to be a no-nonsense approach to this problem which keeps recurring. The economy of edgewood, to include development, is being terrorized by thugs who consistently rotate in and out of Harford Detention Center and return to their playgrounds to repeat offenses. You can build all the facilities in the world to try and provide ‘comfort’ but if theres no parenting on the homefront your wasting money. Stop wasting my taxdollars by building facilites and putting up cameras that placate to more crime. Cameras don’t deter crime…they just move it to where the cameras aren’t.
So when you done touting your numbers maybe we can get down to the issue of putting teeth into these repeat offenders and gun-crimes that DONT result in homicide (look at those stats). And this is not just a sheriffs issue, this is a community issue starting at home as the forefront.
So what have you done to help the community?
HCSO is using 21st century technology to combat crime and resolve crimes shortly after they happen. You say don’t waste my tax dollars. Then you bash absent parenting. What are we left with? Nuke Edgewood and start over? Kill thugs @ birth? What’s your simple solution? If you have one, I’ll write you in for Sheriff.
Side note, if you build a neighborhood of normal homes or a neighborhood of mansions next to the hood, your still going to be next to the hood and closer to the crime.
21st century technology??? Seriously??? Bane has 10 people who put dots on a map after crime has occurred. This is 21st century technology??? Other than that he has not made any technological advancements at the SO. Most of the crimes you see solved are from basic police work from good cops using the same skills and tools that have been known to them and available for decades… Don’t fool yourself into thinking anything other than good cops on the street are doing their jobs because that is what solves crimes. Not dots on a map after the crimes occur.
21st century technology??? Seriously???
I wasn’t referring to Sheriff Bane or Comp stat. Actually, Sheriff Meadows brought us into the 21st century, though I have no idea if you have been around long enough to know any different. New technology cost money. Money = taxes. The OP states, “Stop wasting my tax dollars Harford County.” The citizens of Harford County really need to wake up and smell the beans.
Fact-These social problems that we are “responsible” for taking care of, start in your homes.
Fact-They can be locked up but the local and state judicial system is broken so stop pointing fingers and those that get paid to little to “serve and protect.”
Fact-Violence is an effective problem solving tool for gangsters/thugs because there are no serious consequences for committing crimes in Harford County.
Allot of people on these boards are doing everything they can do under the provisions of the law to keep your communities safe. If you aren’t one of those people, get out of your chair, grab a picket and go make a difference.
Cobras make baby cobras.
He looks a lot like that Rakin Muhammad that’s wanted in the Bel Air American Legion killing. Hey maybe they both learned how to tilt the gun sideways when they were in Boy Scouts together!! Nice little thuggie.
amen
They look nothing alike…just both have dreads…yes, that is what those are called!!! This is why crimes never get solved properly because you think two people who have similar hair look alike
I’m sure the murdered child was not out on his way to a Boy Scout meeting.
No, Shakir wasn’t on his way to a boy scout meeting. He’d been participating in a birthday party for his 1 year old sisters. The lack of compassion for a nice young man that was senselessly gunned down in front of his home is sickening.
This comment is just ridiculous….have some compassion for goodness sakes.
So, he’s just sitting in the car and gets shot. No history with the shooter, just a random act. Don’t believe it.
No, not random. They had an ongoing issue but I have had an ongoing issue with a person or two. I didn’t make the decision to pick up a gun and put 10 bullet holes in them however. It’s ridiculous.
Do you say that because he was 1. a 16 year old 2. a black kid 3. he resided in Edgewood or 4. All three of above stated facts? Just wondering because by your logic Bill Cosby should have been dead in North Philly 40 years ago. It must be nice to be able to throw down judgement so confidently and openly. The kid is dead…gone….forever…..That’s a tragedy.
GREAT JOB HCSO and MSP K-9 ! ! ! One less thug on the street in Edgewood. I’m guessing there are two sets of parents (maybe) who are devastated.
4 years ago you could count the number of streets in Edgewood where you would have this type of problem with your fingers, no need to take off your socks. I say 4 years not because of campaigns or elections but because I lived there 4 years ago. I actually lived 1 street over from where this shooting took place and Woodbridge was a really nice, working class place. It is tragic, not just for the loss of life in this case, but for the community to have fallen so hard and to a point where there is no hope.
Is it subsidized housing? Probably not, but suspect is a renter (or at least lives with their family of renters). The decrease in owner occupied housing in the community has to be a tremendous problem. When people don’t have a long term stake in their community, they don’t treat it as a community and it quickly falls apart.
I guess he knew he was going to go away for the carjacking/theft/assault/robbery charges he got in May of 2010 so he decided to seal his fate….
And for the record: the “carjacking” you see him charged with was really an unauthorized use of a moped. So please know your facts before just pulling things of court records
Murderers always get a bad rap, don’t they! “SEE WHAT HAPPENED WUZ…..”
Thankfully there was at least one trooper left in the county.
This crime was a senseless tragedy. And it happened where I and many others take our kids out to play. And just because people are “renters” does not make them bad people or thugs. The sheriff’s office did their job in this case…….lets just hope the judicial system is able to follow through with their part. That’s where it all breaks down AFTER a crime is committed.
I think by calling this a senseless tragedy, you are giving the parents a scapegoat for not taking responsibility. This killing made sense to Shakir’s murderer, and because he wasn’t taught the value of life he found it easy to end another’s. But Michael S Jones Sr. needs to face the fact that his child is a killer because he failed as a parent.
Again people with the they’re renters, section 8, baby factories, blah, blah, blah. FACT: a young man is dead-his child will have no father…don’t care whether he was going outside to pee or what…he is dead…my prayers to his family. FACT: the suspects parents work hard, pay taxes, and are not babies…they have also had their child snatched away…not their fault. People are responsible for their actions true…stop blaming stereotypical, racist, things for why these crimes happen. And all of you sitting in your glass houses stop throwing boulders!!! You never know what your own kids will do and even if you do people have grandkids,etc. PLEASE stop judging. Read up on the history of our govt, the FBI, criminal justice agencies, etc. See where gangs really started and why…it just may taint the “ivory towers” some people sit in.
People join gangs because they feel the need to belong to something, and most of them come from screwed up backgrounds. The whole ghetto/thug mentality plays into this, and you can’t tell me this had nothing to do with Edgewood being full of thugs, gang members, and a prolific drug AND gun market.
Fact: My property value went down YET AGAIN because of senseless violence.
Fact: I can no longer say, “I live in the GOOD part of Edgewood.”
Fact: The crap that happens in the section 8 neighborhoods just moved in down the block from me.
Fact: I used to be able to walk around the block at night in Woodbridge by myself…my family was one of the first owners in the community…and now I won’t even walk around the block at dusk.
We are all a product of how we are raised, especially when you murder someone at 18. If this guy was 25 even I wouldn’t be blaming the parents, but he is 18, still living at home and STILL the responsibility of his parents. Sure not legally, but when we look inside ourselves as parents, the parents of this killer need to take responsibility for their son’s actions and realize that because they did not instill the respect for other people, the respect for all laws, and the value of life, that their son is what he is.
Go on, blame the FBI, federal government and everybody else, but when it comes down to it, it’s just an excuse to take the blame away from everybody else. This is not a senseless tragedy, this is the result of poor values.
Chuck Dennison,
You are so so wrong. A parent can teach thier child good morals and values. However once that child is out on thier own, the decisions they make can’t be blamed on the parents. My pastors son is in jail? Are you suggesting he wasn’t a good moral responsible parent also? My prayers go out to both families. So Chuck you have so many ideas on what a bad parent is, do you have any good ideas on how to help the communities fix this issue?
OMG – Please help Long Time Resident with spelling.
It is “their” not thier. And, it is the pastor’s son.
Long Time Resident,
It would be different if this child had left home and was living on his own… he was still living with his parents and was 18. And yes, if your Pastor’s child is in jail and was arrested at 18 while still living under his parent’s roof, then your pastor didn’t instill in him the values necessary.
What does it take to be a good parent? Taking responsibility for your child’s behavior while they are still a child is step 1. Knowing where they are, knowing who they hang out with, doing all this before the cops are beating down your door with a K9 unit to track your child down. My children are still young, but I know all of their friends and their friends parents. When they are older I will know who they are going out with at night, and where they are going. And sure they might try to lie to me, but again, if I had instilled the respect and done my job, they wouldn’t need to lie to me.
Long time resident,
You’re right. Parents can teach their child good moral values and still have their kid turn out to be a complete turd when they’re out on their own, but the vast majority of the time those kids grow up to be productive members of society.
Having said that, this punk was not out on his own. He is 18 and still lives at home (well…lived at home…he lives at the HCDC now and will probably be living in a DOC facility for a long time…) It’s not like a kid turns 18 and then all of a sudden goes from being an angel to being some dirtbag murderer.
Just because someone is a pastor doesn’t automatically mean he was good parent.
Some good steps in being a good a good parent would be taking responsibility for your child’s actions, teaching your child to take responsibility for his own actions, raising them to be productive members of society, not having multiple babies’ with different daddies, being a good role model, teaching your child respect for authority, teaching your child how to properly resolve conflict, etc. I have no idea how many of these apply in this case, but I’d be willing to bet that most, if not all of them, do.
Absolutely right Chuck. And Longtime resident, a fantastic solution would be to make IQ testing and age requirements mandatory before people reproduce. It get’s alittle tedious when the pregnant GED recipient behind the counter @ WaWa is expecting her first baby by 17, 2nd by 19 but it’s ok because mom and dad and society will help raise those kids. It’s not a freakin’ blessing when kids who are not intellectually, emotionally mature enough have babies. It’s sad.
You’re right this is a terrible tragedy for both families, mother’s have lost babies. And for all I know the parents of the suspected could be hardworking. But I want to know how we are stereotypical and racist, how we are sitting in glass houses throwing boulders. Last time I checked there were no glass houses in Edgewood and that’s where I’m sitting. FACT: this took place in Edgewood, you can’t change the demographics of the city. FACT: the suspect has several past charges (but the moped was a misunderstanding) FACT: there is a higher rate of crime in south county where there is more subsidized housing, lower income, lower employment rates, all those socio-economic things that contribute to a whole mess of nasty. I’m not sure how we are stereotyping. If it is by refering to the shooter and people like him as criminals, thugs, pieces of crap, burdens on the system? Because by my standards people that have no respect for life and can unload 10 rounds into a kid in his car in front of his house are thugs, pieces of crap, etc. I wouldn’t feel any different about this if they were 2 white kids. I would and do think that the parents must have failed them some how and the kid probably has some sort of severe mental issue. You can be a hardworking decent parent, you can be a member of the church choir and a deacon but if your kid turns out to be a cold blooded killer you have to realize you are responsible, especially if your kid is only 18. That boy is barely a man himself, he’s obviously not menatally mature and something was missing in his up-bringing. I do feel sorry for the suspects parents, it would be unbearable to think that my baby took another mother’s baby’s life. As I said before I would feel this way if it took place in Fallston or Forest Hill or in the white trash areas of Cecil Co or Balto Co. or the North West Baltimore or the latino section of North Philly or Chinatown….I think you get my point. And if I see my kid heading down that path be sure he/she will go to a boot camp/military school whatever it takes to straighten their asses out. I know first hand it’s hard to work full time and raise a family but be damned sure I will not raise a murderer. My momma taught me better and I will teach my kids better.
Well said!! Thank you!!!
I live around the corner in Woodbridge Commons. I drove past Clover on Saturday around 9:15pm. My children were in the car with me. We knew something bad had happened. Too many people were driving to the scene to watch.
My family has lived in Edgewood for 35 years. In those years, we had drug dealers live beside us, homes have burned down sometimes it was not faulty wiring. There have been stabbings, shootings, fights….
We were raised on morals. Doing right. But, we as children chose our paths to walk, sometimes against our parents. My siblings and I are adults now. We chose to stay out of trouble that was in our faces as we grew.
The shooter was 18 years old. HE MADE THAT CHOICE. NO MATTER WHAT HIS UPBRINGING HE CHOSE TO SHOOT SHAKIR.
Edgewood is always treated as the worst, but crime is happening in the more richer lucrative areas also.
A year ago 2 foot patrol officers in Joppatown asked me at 12am if I needed help when my car got a flat.
How can we as a community help to get foot patrols, neighborhood watches, and have sheriff patrol cars in the area? Other communities stop looking down at us and please share with us your knowledge of a safer community. Problem is a lot of us see what is going on but are scared to speak up because crime is bullying us in silence. I spoke up. No one listened. Who is listening and willing to help?
The single biggest problem is government assisted housing. If you go to any part of the country and the highest crime areas are almost always filled with people in some sort of government assisted housing. Frequently, it the single mother who officially lives there, but she then allows her drug dealer boyfriend to stay there. That’s how these gangs initially get a foothold in a neighborhood and once they start moving in, the good people start moving out which then results in more government assisted housing and more problems.
Beyond that, you have to get to know your neighbors, start a neighborhood watch (contact the HCSO community policing unit for info on how to set one up), call the police when something happens or when there are people in the area who don’t belong (and try to get as detailed a description as possible including vehicle descriptions and tag numbers), when the police show up for a major crime be willing to work with them. If you’re afraid of retaliation, tell the officer that and make arrangements to meet with an officer or a detective at another location (which can be literally anywhere at anytime…it doesn’t have to be at the precinct or in your own home.) If you know there’s a particular house or apartment with a lot of activity going on then call the tipline (the number should be on the HCSO website or you can call the precinct to get it) and report it (and if you know that they’re living there through some government program then report them to the appropriate agency as well so they can take steps to get them out.)
Gangs are a very tough problem and the police can’t solve it alone. Most of these guys get locked up fairly regularly and then go right back to their neighborhoods within a few hours or days. I know that several of the officers who regularly work Edgewood are out on foot patrol on Brookside Dr, Meadowood, Harford Square, the Village, etc a couple times a shift (call volume permitting.) Unfortunately they can’t be everywhere and in a lot of these places the dirtbags can see them coming and either duck inside or ditch whatever they’ve got on them.
Agreed!
That is biased. I’m divorced and thus single. I love my children too much. I am both parents. They only go outside if I’m with them. I have too much pride to teach my daughter to be a footstool. Nor teach my son to belittle a woman.
“”Frequently, it the single mother who officially lives there, but she then allows her drug dealer boyfriend to stay there.””
I disagree. It is young parents who want more than they work for so they sell drugs to get it. If they get evicted they move to the next area. Problem is no one knows what they are renting to next because background checks are falsified. As long as you pay or your rent is paid, the rental offices don’t care.
It does not matter what Shakir did before he was murdered. Who has not sat in their car to warm it up or put on a cd or break before going inside or driving off? He was someone’s child. And a child 2 years older chose to kill him.
That lack of compassion has killed Edgewood.
There was a time when parents cared for other parents children. They knew who was working hard; they told us to get home or they would tell our parents! Some cared enough to spank us for our parents and tell them why they did.(Good family friends).
Nowadays there is anger; if you can’t tell a parent what their child did, call 911.
We need neighborhood watch, officers for Edgewood, not BelAir. Secure businesses and shoplifting crushed. Businesses that are well secured and community activities for children like in the past. It does not matter where you live or how much money you make but about pride, compassion and society driven standards.
Klou,
I don’t think anybody is blaming Shakir at all. All of the blame we have been talking about is on Michael Jones Jr and Michael Jones Sr. My point was that the parents of Michael S. Jones Jr. should feel responsible that their son is a murderer.
I would also point out that when Rovall Washington was running for State Senate, he wanted to prohibit landlords from being able to evict convicted felons from their property. Getting known criminals out of the area is probably a good first step from a legal standpoint at cleaning up an area, but again, ultimately my argument falls on parenting.
I don’t think that. I mean that no matter what we say, 2 young men, 1 is dead, and 1 is in isolation, beaten and attacked, lives are/were destroyed.
What is also sad is it probably was planned. When Jones arrived at lockup he was attacked.
It is sickening violence births more violence.
I know where my children are. If parents are not home, as neighbor’s that see what those absent parents kids are doing, tell the parent, or if warranted, tell the police.
I think ita a tragedy on several ends. First, a young life was tracically lost. Two, his family will have a void that will never be filled. Three, the “accused” is supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty. Until I see or hear something that says there was gun residue on Jones’ hands, I’m going to try to keep an open mind about his guilt. What I’m spending y time is thinking how the parents of the deceased teen will be able to cope. With this and how they will respond. How will the community respond? I’m about 1/2 mile from the shooting, I feel like it was next door. Some people say the murdered teen had a history of wrong doing but he’s a juvie so we won’t hear about it..but I’m trying to say it doesn’t mean he deserves to be murdered..4uch a senseless crime. Many lives destryoed..
I thought I was moving in a safe neighborhood. for christ sakes it was my twins 1st birthday party..right outside of my house. I am in pain and so very heart broken that I have to wake up everyday without my son.