On Tuesday morning, our typically quiet neighborhood woke to a chilling scene: an early morning walker discovered a young man shot to death in an alley. Late the prior evening, neighbors heard and reported gunshots; why he was not found sooner and who committed this terrible crime are still being investigated. There’s no indication that there is further threat to the neighborhood. However, it’s not the first time we’ve been rocked by gun violence. In the past year at least three other shooting deaths have occurred in or just outside the Highland Park neighborhood bounds. And this past week, Oct. 27, marked the fourth anniversary of the attack at the Tree of Life Synagogue that killed 11 people, injuring six - the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the United States. Our community, our city, is still grieving that horrific event and trying to process the shock and horror of that day.
Gun violence has infiltrated our culture in so many ways: more suicides, more violent crime, more domestic violence deaths, more accidental shootings. Our children practice active shooter drills at school, learning to hide under desks and be quiet and wondering if anything they do would really help save them. Does anyone notice when gun deaths are in the news anymore? Would anyone in Highland Park have paid attention to the death of 18-year-old Omar McCord, Jr. this past week if it hadn't been in our backyard? Sadly, like much of the country, many of us have become desensitized to gun-violence. We are a nation awash with guns — the only in the world with more guns than people. And while our own neighborhood only rarely experiences gun violence directly, unsecured guns are reported stolen in Highland Park on an almost monthly basis, usually from parked vehicles. These guns often end up resurfacing in connection with crimes, including violent crimes — in fact, a study done here in Pittsburgh found that stolen guns account for more than 30 percent of the guns recovered at crime scenes.
This past week’s shooting unfortunately brings additional somber meaning to the “Memorial to the Lost” display coming to the lawn of St. Andrews on Hampton St. For two weeks, beginning on Nov. 10, t-shirts will fill the church lawn, labeled with the name, age and date of death of Allegheny County residents killed by illegal guns this year. It is a display meant to provide a unique, visible educational tool to honor victims of gun violence and their surviving families. It is a reminder of lives lost and a chance to reflect on what it would take to prevent gun deaths from continuing to be a tragic pervasive part of life in America, including here in Highland Park.
If you have any information regarding this week’s past shooting, please call 911 to report. The police have already spoken to neighbors nearest the incident and there aren't any cameras directly in that area, but if you have a porch camera with footage from that evening, consider checking to see if you caught anything that might be worth sharing with investigators.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Walsh, HPCC President
