KTRK-13 reports on a teenager who was beaten to death in broad daylight earlier in a Montrose-area park:
A teenage boy has been beaten and stabbed to death in a Houston park.
The 14-year-old was killed during a fight at Chew Park on Norfolk and Dunlavy Tuesday afternoon. He was reportedly hit in the head with a baseball bat and stabbed in the chest. The boy died at the scene.
Witnesses say three boys were playing basketball at the park when about 20 teens arrived and started attacking them with bats, tire irons and bricks. The attackers are apparently members of a rival gang, who claim the park as their territory.
Police say a 16-year-old girl with blond hair is considered a prime suspect. She reportedly stabbed the victim.
There were several witnesses to the attack, including a lifeguard at the adjacent public swimming pool. A police investigation is underway. No arrests have been made.
Additional coverage is available from KPRC-2, KHOU-11, and the Chronicle.
This is pretty shocking. It’s not as if this is a bad neighborhood, and this park stays fairly busy (inner loop dog owners make use of it).
KHOU-11 posted an interesting, related story from Shern-Min Chow earlier today. Here’s an excerpt:
Police are noticing more and more crimes of opportunity.
A woman was attacked at a gas station in the middle of the day Monday.
Police said the motive was robbery and these kinds of attacks are becoming all too common.
[snip]
Detective [Paul] Reese gives Ivette high marks for most of her response.
“She acted on her instincts. She could tell something was wrong, however she did go out to the parking lot.
“I got in my car and started chasing them. I called 911,” Garcia said.
That earned her a reprimand.
“Again, don’t try to take matters into your own hand,” said Det. Reese.
Well, what are people supposed to do?
Because of HPD’s acute manpower shortage, there aren’t enough cops on the street for people to rely on the city for public safety. The only help people seem to be getting from politicians is red-light-camera revenue streams (thanks, Mayor White, for nothing) and admissions that businesses should close down early in neighborhoods where crime is on the increase (thanks, Councilmember Khan, for nothing). And the police chief’s Acronym Van doesn’t seem to be much help either.
Honestly, what are people supposed to do?
UPDATE: Here’s a nice headline from KHOU-11, covering a big event Mayor White held for the press:
Mayor takes action to rid city of dangerous neighborhood nuisances
You know what headlines I’d like to see?
Mayor takes action to rid city parks of murderers who beat teenagers to death
or
Mayor triples budget for HPD academies/recruitment, vows to get handle on surging crime
