The fatal shooting of a mother in the Bronx caught in crossfire and the shooting of five teens in Brooklyn over a designer bookbag is a clear indication that gun violence will again be a problem this summer.
Jessica White, 29, paid the ultimate price to protect her children from a spray of bullets in the Bronx last weekend. Her family now has the painstaking task of planning her funeral.
Reports indicate the shooting took place last Saturday in the Logwood section of the Bronx. White was sitting on a bench in a playground inside the James Adams Houses when a gunman entered the playground and opened fire.
Shielding her three children, White was shot in the torso. Her brothers tried to perform CPR on her before she was transported to Lincoln Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her children were not injured.
White was not the intended target, according to reports. The gunman, who was wearing a ski mask, intended to shoot a group of men sitting in the park. The conflict was allegedly gang-related.
Gola White, the victim’s mother, was also on the scene during the shooting and took her grandchildren inside after her daughter was shot.
“Bullets don’t have a name, bullets don’t have a direction, so of course when my daughter stood up, she got hit, under her heart. And she’s gone,” White said.
No arrests have been made. The NYPD is seeking a male person of interest wanted for questioning.
In an unrelated shooting in Brooklyn, 21-year-old Bernard Bellomy has been arrested in connection with a shooting that injured five teenagers ranging from the ages of 15 to 17.
The shooting took place Monday in East Flatbush at the Harry Maze Playground and was caused by a conflict over a stolen designer bookbag. The teens were playing basketball when an MCM bookbag went missing.
Bellomy left the altercation and allegedly came back with friends and a handgun. He shot at the teens who were later taken to Kings County Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
In response to the violence this weekend, elected officials and anti-violence activists continue to look for solutions to the problem.
“We are here again. And honestly, we know we will be here once more, very soon,” said Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams. “We can’t sit back and simply attribute gun violence to thugs, terrorists or gangster music.”
Anti-violence organization Save Our Streets recently held a symposium in Brooklyn with the Brooklyn Clergy Action Network 2 Save Our Communities. Approximately 100 people attended the event that included a session for children, teens and adults on finding ways to stop violence in the community.
