Young girl caught between a shooting in the Bronx

On Monday afternoon in the Bronx, Carvett Gentles fired 6 shots into a bodega across the street from where he was standing, targeting 19 year old Tyrone Creighton. One of the bullets hit Creighton, puncturing his lung, and another hit Vada Vasquez in the back of her head leaving her in a medically induced coma. Soon after, Gentles was arrested for carrying a firearm and attempted murder and made a full confession to authorities. Piecing together the crime, Authorities state that there were 4 other people with Gentles during the shooting, including Rohan Francis, 18; Cleve Smith, 20, Clivie Smith, 19, ; and Dwayne Taylor, 23,. All four of them had extensive arrest records except Gentles. The motive behind the shooting is believed to be in retaliation after Tyrone Creighton's brothers, both incarcerated, beat up a person in prison. Before the shooting, the 5 confronted Creighton and one of them pulled out a gun, but Creighton quickly fled to hiding. The gun was soon passed down to Gentles who fired 6 shots. Now Vada Vasquez, a 15 year old girl who loved music, lies in critical condition.

To me, this story has gang violence written all over. Gentles, probably caught in some initiation scheme, was most likely pressured into the shooting, seeing as how the rest of the people had previous arrests except for him. His actions wounded two people, one of them, a completely innocent girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now Gentles faces criminal charges, and Vasquez is fighting for her life. With gang violence, no one wins, yet it still goes on all over the world. I know authorities are constantly working to put an end to it, but is there really a way to fully extinguish it? Think about this, it would be nice to know what you guys think.

As the Smoke Clears from the Fort Hood Massacre

This is a follow-up blog post to my most recent on on the Fort Hood Killings. Once again, the article my post is based on can be found on the title.
As new information continues to unfold, the killings have been attributed to an army psychiatrist named Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. He was soon to be deployed to Iraq before the shooting occurred.
Hasan was reported dead at first but as reports are now coming in, he is still living.
Obama stated, "It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas," and that "It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil." I completely agree with this statement. I did mention this in my other post but I will reiterate that these soldiers should not be faced with any type of danger when they are home and in their own base. There is still yet to be a motive and so I will hold judgments on Hasan's actions until then, but I will say that regardless of motive what he did was wrong and unforgivable.
As events continue to unfold, I want to know how America will respond to this act of violence and what new information will be revealed to the public. What do you think will be the next big news on this topic?