Same here...But these particular kids? Their parents are as bad as they are if not worse. They allow their children to run the streets all day and night, no parental supervision, and party/fight as much as their kids do. Heck, I just had to remove a knife from a 6 year old the other day, he was running around with it unsupervised yet again, him and his brother (5). Banged on his mother's door for 15 minutes, her finally answering it and her reply 'I was sleeping. Oh well, he was just playing, it's no big deal.' Family services come out, they can't do anything...The police come out, they can't do anything cause everyone clams up...And this was one of the homes involved in the origional conflict yesterday? Perhaps now, Social Services will step in somehow? But I really doubt it.

The saddest part is, we were actually cleaning up our nieghborhood. And thought we were succesful. But a few months ago, a couple of the empty houses were rented out to...I don't know what you'd call them. And the violence has been slowly esculating, especially over the last few weeks.

Personally, hubby and I'd move out as of yesterday. But my mother refuses to leave her home cause of it and we won't move unless she moves with us. We won't leave her here basically alone and unprotected 7/24.

I grew up in this neighborhood. I remember when we used to not lock doors, everyone sat out in their yards or walked around visiting with one another, of block parties and carnivals, and the only time we saw police is cause they got lost and had to turn around to get back out or they were friends dropping in for a cup of coffee and gossip...Last night kinda drove home that that old neighborhood is gone forever now.

Something isn't right. I understand that the weapons used were illegal. But I'm still wondering what we could do as a society to cut that means of procurring those weapons in the first dang place. Cause even though the officers confiscated the weapons they found, these...punks (sorry if that offends anyone, but that's the best thing I can call them at the moment) will just go out and replace them with more illegal weapons? And that doesn't even include that when they retaliate, that the rival members will retaliate as well, and this time it may be a child killed, one of my elderly neighbors, or even one of my family members caught in the cross fire.

By the way...I apologize for this rant. I'm still a tad shaken up by the whole thing and trying to figure out how to protect my own from those with no regards for life or innocents.