3 Days, 3 Shootings In Amarillo

Okay if this doesn't convince you that Amarillo is justified in exploring the possibility of opening up a reserve police force for the Amarillo Police Department, nothing else will. Within the past 3 days, 3 shootings have taken place in Amarillo.

On October 29th Amarillo police officers were called to a scene at the 1900 block of NW 18th Avenue. A male victim and a female victim were shot and injured while a third male victim, Lawrence Hart was shot and was later pronounced dead on the scene. Detectives identified the shooter as Bol Deng, and on October 31st Deng was arrested for murder 

On the same day, yet another shooting took place. The APD was called to a Northeast 15th and North Cleveland intersection in response to an aggravated assault. Reportedly, a dark-colored car had gotten into an accident with an unnamed Amarillo resident, before shots were fired from the dark car, striking the other driver. The assailant fled the scene, and the victim was promptly taken to the hospital. The suspect is still at large.

And the third shooting to take place happened yesterday, at Avondale park. Several teenagers were reported to have been involved in a fistfight at the park before a participant drew a handgun and shot the victim, a 15-year-old boy. The boy was taken to the hospital and the shooter has not been found. The case is currently under investigation by the APD Juvenile Investigation Squad.

At Amarillo’s size, it is inevitable that crimes such as these may become less and less rare. But when instances such as the ones mentioned before happen on such a rapid basis, along with other problematic situations that we've had throughout the month of October, it could be a signal for a much larger problem. Although an expansion of our police force can help some in keeping the peace in Amarillo, it is entirely possible that these issues have much deeper roots. To pinpoint what is behind these is hard, but is worth it at the end of the day. Hopefully, the city of Amarillo will do what it can to tackle these issues as we grow.