Merry Christmas, indeed.
According to the Daily Breeze, a 16-year old boy was shot and killed while riding his bike in the Harbor Gateway neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Torrance resident Richard Aldana was riding in the 1500 block of West 208th Street around 8:20 pm Sunday when a blue vehicle pulled up near him and someone fired several shots from inside. Aldana was transported to a local hospital, where he died.
Despite the drive-by, police do not think the shooting was gang related.
When 20 children are gunned down, along with six adults, the entire nation is horrified and demands action. Yet when one boy on a bike loses his life on the wrong end of a gun, no one even notices. Instead of world-wide press coverage, it merits just four paragraphs in the local paper.
It’s just too common an occurrence.
Just one of the seven bike riders killed by gunfire in Southern California so far this year, compared to nine last year, and the second in Los Angeles County.
And just one of the 30,000 +/- people who will die by gunfire throughout the country before this year is over.
Twenty-six deaths is a tragedy. One isn’t even news.
Anyone with information is urged to call homicide detectives Sid Rodriguez at 310/726-7887 or Patty Batts at 310/726-7889.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Richard Aldana and all his loved ones.
Update: Not knowing the area, I originally placed the shooting in Torrance, rather than Los Angeles. I’ve corrected it above to show the actual location. Thanks to Biker395 for the correction.
