33 murders so far this year, is this normal?

[GMan26]

It seems this is all I ever hear about on the news:
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Hartford police investigate 33rd murder in city

More violence tonight on the streets of Hartford.

Police in the Capitol City are investigating two separate shootings tonight.

The first happened around 6:15 p.m. at the intersection of Broad and Madison.

Just minutes later gunfire erupted outside a home on Bond Street.

Hartford police are investigating their 33 homicide for this year. Police say it started off as a fight between two men and it ended in a fatal shooting.

"I heard like three shots..."

Iris Caban and her sister Jackie were in her kitchen when they heard gunfire outside.

Jackie ran across the street to the corner of Madison and Broad. There she saw a man lying on the ground.

"I went outside and I guess the gunshot went in his head and the bullet went out the back and he had all his guts out and he was bleeding internally."

A jacket marks the spot where the victim fell. According to police, the 27-year old Hispanic man was shot four times. He died later at Hartford Hospital.

Sgt. Heriberto Resto says,"He had one shot to the head, one to the abdomen and one to the back."

According to police the fight erupted into a fatal shooting. Witnesses say they saw a man chasing the victim. They also say in close range, the shooter poured four bullets into the victim.

"We had two individuals on the sidewalk and for unknown reasons, some sort of altercation occurred between the two. One displayed a handgun and fired shots at the other individual," says Resto.

Jacki Caban says seeing the incident has shaken her and her family.

"There was a lady there with him, holding him and she tell everybody to move and get air," says Jackie.

Iris says,"It is not safe for my kids because my kids be playing right here."

Police are not releasing the identity of the victim and they are still looking for the shooter. They say they have some leads.

It was a busy night for Hartford police. At 42 Bond Street there was a minor shooting in which the victim was shot in the leg. Police do not believe the two incidents were related."
--------------------------------------
My friend who lives in a part that seems to be getting more and more "scary" called me last night and said he came home to an empty house. His roomates left a note saying they went to their girlfriend's apartments out of town because they heard gunfire and people screaming for help. No police ever showed so they left. My friend (AKA The Sheep) actually showed concern and asked, "hey can I borrow your gun? I guess I should lock the doors tonight huh"

Its just very odd to hear about gunfights occuring every other night. Its like the wildwest or something. Is this normal? I know the Police force is not up to par and the morale is low (plus they have state police helping out) but how do you restore order? Its almost anarchy. I'm so glad I don't live in that city anymore.

[zander_zye]

That is quite a bit - how big is Hartford? Oakland, CA, with a population of just over 350,000 just registered its 80th homicide.

(must be hell to be a Homicide Investigator there)

[GMan26]

The population there as of 2002 is 118,000 (approx.) I lived there for a year and it was hell. Not for violent crime but annoying gangbangers hanging outside my apartment at all hours of the night shouting screaming and fist fighting. My parent's didn't understand why I would move there but I wanted to because I could save a lot of money for the year. My rent was only $325 and trust me - if you saw the place you'd know why...I wanted to save up to buy a new car and I REALLY did not want to move back into the parent's house...

I never heard gunshots at night... but according to my friends who live there now they hear it almost every night. They said they assumed it was someone lighting firecrackers in the area but they learned otherwise.

I get a sense that these criminals don't care about law enforcement. Its no wonder so many LEO's quit and find other jobs. Its too bad.

[Stump]

Hey GMan,
I didn't realize that you lived so close! I go through that area quite a bit. We should set up a "meet".

[GMan26]

Where are you out of? I'm in central CT.

[Stump]

I'm in NY, my brother lives in southern CT. I drive through Hartford on 91 all the time. I'll be going down there again Columbus day weekend. I'm gonna try to get a ridealong while I am there, but can't decide on the department.

[metallicat]

That seems ridiculously high. I live in Canada in a city with a population of around 700,000 or so, and I believe we average around 15-20 murders for an entire year.

You may not like the guy like me, but what Bowling for Columbine and it shows some pretty interesting stats comparing the USA and Canada.

[GMan26]

Oh ok, so southern CT he must live in the New Haven/Fairfield county. My Sheep friend lived in Milford (off 95) two years ago and I lived in a condo in Trumbull (off RT15) we use to go to Pepe's for pizza. Good stuff. After that he stayed and I moved back up near the Berlin Trpk (rt 5/15) for a while then to Hartford and now I'm in a decent area that's close to the suburbs. Needless to say my parents are happy now, haha.

Ridealong hmmmm, don't do Hartford! Would you rather do a ridealong in a town or city?

[Dan]

Ive heard CT actually has a pretty high crime rate, especially in the big cities

[Stump]

I got sidetracked - as far as your original post... that does seem high for the per capita. However, you also have to look at the other violent crimes. How many shootings happen a year that DON'T result in homicide? We don't have nearly as many homicides per year compared to the shootings.

I'd rather ride in the city for sure. My brother's next door neighbor is a trooper, but I don't want to ride with them. If I can't decide by Oct, I'll just go with that guy. He's nice enough. Why wouldn't I want to ride Hartford? I would want a place that is busy...

You have a friend who is a sheep? LOL

[zander_zye]

Originally posted by metallicat
That seems ridiculously high. I live in Canada in a city with a population of around 700,000 or so, and I believe we average around 15-20 murders for an entire year.

You may not like the guy like me, but what Bowling for Columbine and it shows some pretty interesting stats comparing the USA and Canada.

I saw the movie the other day. At times it was amusing and at times it was a sad commentary on our times. (what moron would allow the sale of a gun in a bank?). I didn't think it was a documentary in the sense of the word, more of a political satire.

Putting aside the controversy over Michael Moore's comments at the Academy Awards, I beleive that some parts of the film were not factually correct. If memory serves me right, it was the interview with Charleston Heston. Can anyone shed some light on this?

I did think that the movie "Roger and Me" was a better commentary of our times. It showed the greed of Roger Smith and how he single handedly turned a great company into almost dust. (the part where it showed what happened to a number of the laid off auto workers was a sad commentary: either they were CO's or inmates)

[bucknutz30]

Originally posted by zander_zye
I saw the movie the other day. At times it was amusing and at times it was a sad commentary on our times. (what moron would allow the sale of a gun in a bank?). I didn't think it was a documentary in the sense of the word, more of a political satire.

Putting aside the controversy over Michael Moore's comments at the Academy Awards, I beleive that some parts of the film were not factually correct. If memory serves me right, it was the interview with Charleston Heston. Can anyone shed some light on this?

I did think that the movie "Roger and Me" was a better commentary of our times. It showed the greed of Roger Smith and how he single handedly turned a great company into almost dust. (the part where it showed what happened to a number of the laid off auto workers was a sad commentary: either they were CO's or inmates)

http://www.hardylaw.net/Truth_About_Bowling.html

Check out that site. It goes through practically every part of the movie and shows how almost everything Moore said was bull**** - much more than just the Heston interview. Make sure to check out all the links, too.

[zander_zye]

thanks Bucks - interesting reading. As I stated before, after watching the movie I never thought it was a documentary but a political satire. It is sad that both sides can hardly ever get their facts straight (perhaps we need Fact Police - lol)

[Dan]

Originally posted by metallicat
You may not like the guy like me, but what Bowling for Columbine and it shows some pretty interesting stats comparing the USA and Canada.

You do know that pretty much the whole movie was edited to michale Moore to make his "point" stronger?

he is an idiot, a complete asshat, cant belive anybody belives that crap.

he should have his oscar(or whatever award) revoked since the movie is not a Documentary. Its a heavily edited liberal anti-gun pos /rant

[bucknutz30]

Originally posted by Dan
he should have his oscar(or whatever award) revoked since the movie is not a Documentary. Its a heavily edited liberal anti-gun pos /rant

The clown doesn't even have a point. For most of the movie, it seems like he's on a big anti-gun thing, but then he says how Canadians have more guns per capita than Americans do, but still have less gun violence, which completely contradicts his original point that guns are the cause of violence. Then he contradicts himself yet again with the whole thing about the media being the underlying cause for violence. He says that people shoot each other because they see it so often in the news, but earlier in the movie, he mocked the people who blame Marilyn Manson, video games, etc for violence. He can't make up his mind on anything. Plus he's a master liar/manipulator.