Almost exactly a week after a bullet in a drive-by shooting in Kent hit the head of a one-year-old girl in the backseat of a car (she eventually died from the injury), the leg of an 18-year-old man was hit by a bullet fired into his car, which was parked near Columbia City. Though both incidents are considered by investigators not to be random, no arrests have been made—a fact that is much more glaring in the week-old shooting. (At this time, the Kent Police Department has yet to return my call about the status of this investigation.)
Just a month ago, a black Cleveland High School senior was shot and killed on a corner of Beacon Hill that’s not far at all from the Beacon Hill Library. This shooting, which happened in broad daylight and was heard by several people, also has yet to be solved. (Also at this time, the SPD has yet to return my call about the status of this investigation.)
I want to give these shootings, whose victims are all young (and at least two of whom are black), a deeper analysis: Do we need more police officers on the street? Do we need to make more social investments in these neighborhoods? Are these shootings structural? But all I can think and say at this moment is it seems sometimes that police officers are not the only people who need to be reminded that black lives do actually matter.
This is what a man who identified himself as the uncle of the baby had to say on KIRO right after she was shot…
She died two days later.
