Teen killed near Rosemont community center
"It's not even summer yet."
That's the lament this morning from Richard Mosley in the aftermath of a double shooting Saturday night that left a teenager dead and another teen seriously wounded in Southwest Baltimore's Rosemont community.
The shooting occurred on Normount Avenue, just two blocks from where Mosley's son, Sean, lives, who last weekend graciously gave me a tour of his neighborhood. The Rosemont Police Athletic League Center, a block away from the shooting scene, is scheduled to close July 1 and Sean, a starter for the University of Maryland basketball team, grew up playing at the center. At left, in a photo taken by the Baltimore Sun's Chiaki Kawajiri, Sean walks by a playground near his home in Rosemont.
As I walked with Sean and his father, both talked about the importance of role models and the burden that Sean, a star in the community as well as in the state, has in mentoring young kids. Both think closing the PAL center -- along with others -- is a terrible idea. I watched Sean talk with kids on a basketball court and look at graffiti next to the court that mourned young men lost to the drug wars. "I probably know some of them," he told me.
This morning, after the shooting Saturday night, I called Richard Mosley and he told me his son knew both young men who had been shot, including Maurice Toomer, 17, who was killed. "He was distraught," the elder Mosley said. He said his son stayed on campus this past weekend and wasn't home. The shootings occurred about 8:30 p.m.
Richard Mosley said that police both on foot and in patrol cars were all over the neighborhood Saturday night and all day Sunday. He was happy to see them, but said, "Why do they always come after-the-fact? They know what goes on in this neighborhood."
With the PAL center closing, there will be even fewer cops in the community. Mosley is reaching out to nonprofits in hopes of getting money not only to keep the center open, but to hire off-duty officers to staff it.
Comments
A simple definition of insanity is "To repeat the same thing over and over and expect different results". Why doesn't it appear evident to our leaders that by removing the only source of positive mentoring and role models that some of our neighborhoods have that they are dooming the life of that neighborhood. I am 53 years old. I remember my old neighborhood once had a marching band, once had Cub Scouts, once had Girl Scouts, once had Boy Scouts, once had Pop Warner Football, once had Little League Baseball, once had a viable Rec. Center. They all disappeared! The community trended right into the "Toilet". This community was the "Westport Homes". It now exist as a lot, to be paved over and re-allocated. I truly believe we are killing our children and our communities, trying to save a few bucks.
Posted by: Alex 3rd | May 5, 2009 9:29 AM