Sacramento California mall shooting kills two young men ages 17 and 19, why?
Once again on Black Friday, violence erupts in malls and cities across the nation. In Sacramento, California, at the Arden Fair Mall, two brothers were gunned down inside the mall and both are now deceased. It is a tragic event, but it is unfortunately all too common. In New York, in Philadelphia and of course in Chicago, shootings erupt without clear motives and innocent lives are lost. At the Sacramento shooting, the local media describe the event:
"A mall employee told The Sacramento Bee that he heard two shots at first before a flurry of others broke loose. All told, around eight to 12 shots went off before crowds of shoppers began fleeing the mall.
The two victims were brothers: 19-year-old Dewayne James Jr. and 17-year-old Sa’Quan Reed-James. Family and friends gathered at the mall at 6 p.m. to pay respects and ask the community to step forward with information and demand more resources for the community’s Black youth amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s time for the community to stand up, take back our community, teach our children different,” Community activist Jamilia Land said. “Give them something other than guns and rap music to pick up and follow behind.” Family of brothers slain in Black Friday shooting at Arden Fair speak out
Why does this scenario occur again and again? Is it a result of popular culture and especially music? Perhaps the recent shooting of King Von, whose real name was Dayvon Bennett, outside of an Atlanta club gives some answers. His music was quite popular among some people. A father of two children and popular on Youtube. Yet he was a likely gang member and a 'trigger man' for the gang he belonged to. In other words he was a violent criminal as well as a singer. Perhaps such people are not heroes and maybe their music has very negative messages that influence young people in destructive ways. Maybe this is part of the answer to why some young people choose violence. What do you think?
Shooting suspect charged with murder in Chicago rapper King Von’s death
A second man dies after Sacramento mall shooting
Question: What do you think causes some young people to engage in violence?
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