We're Getting Used to This

I live a block away from were a young man was killed on Paige Avenue.

That afternoon, police responded to multiple calls about shots fired. By the time it was over, 17 evidence markers littered the street. Small, numbered reminders of how many times a trigger was pulled in the middle of the day, in the middle of a neighborhood where people live their lives.

Two days later, there was another.

And this morning, two more.

I, and my neighbors, don't experience this as a headline. It's geography. It's the sound of sirens cutting through the day. It's the calculation of distance--how far, how close. It's recognizing street names as something you can see from your front door.

Violence doesn't appear out of nowhere. It shows up more often in places where opportunities are sparse, where resources are scattered and where support systems feel inconsistent... or out of reach. You don't have to assume who pulled the trigger to see it. You just have to look at where it keeps happening and what those places have been missing for years.

Warren doesn't lack programs on paper. There are youth initiatives, outreach efforts, nonprofit services, and grant-funded programs. But they are fragmented, often invisible, and rarely felt in a way that matches the urgency of the problem.

The response to violence however, is unmistakable and immediate: police tape, evidence markers, flashing lights, and a call for information. This matters. It's a part of the process.

But it also uncovers something deeper. The system we see most clearly is the one that responds after the fact.

It's harder to see the systems that might prevent the next set of evidence markers from being placed in the street.

It's not about blaming the neighborhood. We should be asking why some neighborhoods are left to absorb more of this than others. And why the support meant to interrupt it doesn't feel as present as the response that follows.

And this morning: two shootings. A mile and a half apart.

Police responded to shots fired on Northwest Boulevard where two victims were taken to St. Joseph for treatment.

On West Market Street, another victim.

Two scenes. One morning. One city.

That should stop us in our tracks.

That it doesn't anymore should concern all of us.