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.

Terror in Colombia

I was shocked when I read this article, because it really reveals some of the horrors in this world. In Medellin, Colombia, there is constant gang violence and drug wars. In this particular article, there is an interview that involves two Hit-men, Red and C. There is much corruption in Columbia, and especially in Medellin, where even politicians are hiring Hit-men to rid their opponents.

According to the two men, Red and C, there is much chaos in their neighborhoods in Medellin, since authorities have locked up many gang lords so now there is a lot of chaos. Many drug wars have been fought and many people killed. Recently, in August, Samir Romero, someone who is apparently in these wars, was shot thirteen times. This caused a lot of grief for his relatives and you can see the anguish in the photos.



According to the interviews, the two Hit-men have the support of their neighborhood who they deliver food, probably provided by the drug lords of the area. They see it as a "kill or be killed" situation that is very hard to leave. They can either wind up in jail or end up dead in the streets. The authorities also have a huge problem catching all the drug lords, since more people will replace the jailed criminals. With Colombia's neighborhoods falling into poverty, more and more people are drawn into this chaos, and according to the C, one of the Hit-men, this chaos doesn't seem to have an end.

- Henry Zhang