PB-area shootings taking a heavy toll

Pine Bluff had another tragedy last week. A young man, a mere 14 years of age, was shot in the head and was holding on to life at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Two other youngsters have been arrested. If you are a prayerful person, now would be an appropriate time to offer up some for Damareyon Harris and his family.

Damareyon’s mother, Dione Bates, spoke to The Commercial about how it all went down, and her frustration with how a bunch of junior high kids got ahold of a gun.

“On Monday, I got the phone call from a young lady telling me my son had got shot in the head and hurry up and get to the hospital and that is what I did,” Bates said.

Bates at first was told her son had been shot multiple times but as it turned out, he had been shot just once.

“They did the CT scan and it was only one,” she said. “When he got shot he fell and busted his head so that caused a large abrasion on his forehead.”

By Wednesday, police had made two arrests, and Bates thanked the authorities for their quick work.

She said her son was hanging out with friends and that the shooting was an accident, and that the person involved was attempting to shoot at someone else. That description still paints a disturbing picture. Rarely is it a good thing when guns and youngsters are involved, especially if it’s not in the presence of a responsible adult. And therein lies the problem, as Bates said. Junior high kids are wild by nature. Their brains aren’t fully formed and won’t be for years, and they do not assess danger in the way it should be assessed. Where then are the responsible adults? Where are those who would keep these youngsters away from things that harm them?

“Whoever it is controlling this situation because, it’s always a bigger person, when it’s a lot of little boys doing wrong, I noticed there is an older person involved,” Bates said. “They need to stop giving these kids guns. These kids don’t know what they’re doing. This is not a game. This is not Grand Theft Auto. They need to stop.”

And the problem goes even deeper, she said, noting that adults need to step up in an “it-takes-a-village” sort of way.

“I don’t even feel like it’s the adults that are doing the wrong. We all as adults are doing the best we can to raise these kids. They are just making their own decisions — good or bad,” she said. “Judge (Earnest) Brown is doing the best he can, the probation officers, everyone is doing the best they can, but these children have gotten out of control, I will say. It’s just sad.”

Damareyon has had two surgeries, and according to Bates, he’s doing well, although at the time she said he was still being sedated to avoid adding pressure to his brain. We wish for his continued recovery as do many, many others.

By the slimmest of margins, Pine Bluff would have had another teen shooting death to chalk up for 2023. Damareyon’s shooting follows just a few days after the shooting deaths of two other teens who were sitting in a car that was shot up. Two other people were injured in that incident.

At the very least, this is a moment when every family with guns and youngsters in the same house should take measures to make sure the two can never come into close proximity. Lock the guns away, put trigger locks on them, take them apart so they aren’t immediately functional, get rid of them, hide the bullets and shells for them — do something that would keep wild and crazy young people from getting their hands on them.

Thank you, Ms. Bates, for your voice of reason at a time of crisis. Perhaps people will listen to your common-sense advice.