8-year-old shot in drive-by: 'I'm going to miss you'

[flashl]

As an 8-year-old boy critically wounded in a drive-by shooting was being wheeled into an operating room at Stroger Hospital late Monday, he turned to the doctors and nurses and said, "You guys have been so nice to me. When I die, I'm going to miss you."

Trauma unit surgeon John Houston responded: "You're not going to die. We're going to save your life."

They did.

Josue Torres, a 2nd grader at Lafayette Elementary School in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood, was seriously wounded about 9:45 p.m. Monday when gunmen fired shots into a parked van in which he was sitting with his parents in the 1100 block of North Spaulding Avenue, authorities said.

Chicago Tribune

[WillParkinson]

1. Oy...

I could cry.

[ronnykmarshall]

2. I am

[Cleita]

3. It's been happening in big cities

for more than thirty years which I can remember and yet no one has come up with a solution that would make those neighborhoods safe for the children who live in them.

[izquierdista]

4. It will go on

Until drugs are treated as a public health problem and not a "crime" problem. Remove the demand for drugs and remove the root of most of the crime.

[Warpy]

6. Remove the big profits that black market drugs give

and you'll reduce the crime.

[izquierdista]

7. Addict treatment centers

Walk-in treatment for substance addiction, including "free" dosages on-site (no take-homes).
Transdermal patches to assist addicts in weaning off their addiction.
Psychological counseling available to help replace addictive behaviors with desired behaviors.
Support groups and 24-hour staffing to be available when the urge strikes.
Public advertising campaign to deglamorize "getting high" and replace it with "getting help".

[donco6]

5. Similar thing here in Denver last week.

Little girl got shot in a crossfire in Curtis Park. Thankfully, she's OK. They arrested two guys.

http://www.denverpost.com/denver/ci_9652277

[DavidDvorkin]

8. In the Denver case, it happened because of the proliferation of handguns

As I commented in my blog, linked below.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

9. Then how did it happen in Chicago?

Some of the strictest gun control laws in the country.

David