I awoke to the news that a 14-year-old was cut down in South Baltimore by yet another drive-by shooting ("14-year-old dead in Brooklyn double shooting," April 9). A senseless murder is terrible enough, but the drive-by shooters are the prime example of cowardice and hypocrisy. The trigger-puller is long gone by the time the cops arrive.
What in the name of sanity has become of our city?
Baltimore is falling down an increasingly slippery slope of bloody homicide. Oh, yes, the neighborhoods where the murders are carried out may initially display public outrage, but it always seems to dissipate after a few days. It is usually carried out by the pastors and ministers of the communities. A week later, the fulcrum all to often sways back to blatant indifference.
Where is the sustained outrage, not only by those whose lives have been affected by the murder of a loved one but also by Baltimore citizens who have not been directly affected by murder? This is a monster so enormous that all residents' concern and participation is sorely needed.
It's the only way to move forward. The outrage needs to be sustained by all. Inexplicable homicides cannot and must not dominate the city and dictate how we live our lives. This ugly template must be shattered.
Otherwise, the aforementioned slope keeps getting more slippery.
Patrick R. Lynch, Nottingham