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The data showed that, since March 2, there have been 78 calls for shootings in North Charleston. 45 of them involved injuries or death. The rapid increase of gun violence comes as the topic reaches the forefront of the nation's attention. Gun violence is snatching lives from street corners, malls, nightclubs and bars, driving a soaring statewide homicide rate matching the bloody heights of the crack-cocaine epidemic of the early 1990s.
Bullets break bodies and fracture communities.
Each shooting is a bleak reminder of the ways gun violence touches the lives of everyday South Carolinians, and proof the physical bullet wound is often the least painful part of getting shot.
Recent deaths in Charleston County highlight dangers of unintentional shootings.
NORTH CHARLESTON — The 13-year-old boy was attending a birthday party July 20 at his family’s residence.
By the early hours of the next morning, the celebration had quieted down. The 15 attendees in the house on Pinehurst Street prepared for bed, except Micah Simmons and his 14-year-old relative.
The two boys found a loaded firearm stored in the corner of a bedroom.
A relative grabbed the firearm from Simmons and it discharged, according to Charleston County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Andrew Knapp. Investigators believe the shooting took place at 3:45 a.m.
Simmons suffered a gunshot wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead at a hospital nearly an hour and a half later.
Simmons’ death thrusts to the fore a persistent — and preventable — cause of gun violence: unintentional shootings.
CISM Chaplain Oscar Smith
Prayed Up For This Walk Tonight
In A Crime Ridden Area.
Father, I pray that unity may prevail in my new community. Help me to be an instrument of Your peace. Help us in this city of Charleston, SC to come together to resolve the issues that affect us all. AMEN.
