Pine Bluff has more than its share of homicides with many of them taking the lives of the young. When someone in their teens or 20s is gunned down, we think of them as babies who were not able to navigate the sometimes ugly world we live in. We mourn for the older victims as well, but at least they had the benefit of time to, in some cases, move toward or away from crime, if that involvement is what took their lives.
Earlier this year, two teenagers were killed in a car, both shot to death. That was what appeared to be a purposeful killing.
On Thursday night, another young man, just 18, was killed. He was a White Hall student and was out with friends on the day before he was to graduate from high school. There were three youngsters in a car. They had already attended a graduation and were in North Little Rock to drop off one of the occupants.
Everything was fine until it wasn’t. While in the backseat, one of the friends was playing with a gun. It fired, striking the White Hall student who was driving the car in the back. Attempts were made to save his life. 911 was called. But it was too late.
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The apparent shooter – not even 18 yet – was distraught. He told police it was an accident. He is being held in connection with a charge of manslaughter.
At graduation, the 18-year-old’s seat was left vacant except for his football jersey and other memorabilia. And his mother was there to receive his diploma. It is beyond sad. As a coach said, the tragedy destroyed the lives of two young people.
In the one case, the two teens were purposely shot and killed. On Thursday night, the young man was accidentally shot and killed, at least from this short vantage point. All three young people are dead. It doesn’t matter what the intent of the shooter was; the gun does not care. But had the boy in the backseat been playing with anything else, one young man would be sleeping this morning, reveling in his graduation, excited about the anticipation of how his life would unfold.
When will we learn? When will our youth not be a part of a sordid lottery in which a gun decides the winners and losers? How many deaths does it take to get the attention of adults to get guns off the streets and away from the young? How much pain and sorrow is enough?