Philly in the National News Again and It's Not "Good News"

For most of us, particularly people over the age of 45, all we're looking for or is some peace, quality time with family and friends, fun, and relaxation on the weekends. Right?

- Thera Martin

But no, there are people in this city who are hell-bent on causing grief, havoc, unrest, and fear. Another word I can certainly use to describe what happens way too often in our city of Philadelphia is violence, and it doesn't just happen on the weekends. People who are the perpetrators of the violence do not discriminate. They cause violence morning, noon, and night; it doesn't matter to them.

Here we are on a holiday weekend, just one day away from all the major Welcome America festivities for those of you who celebrate July 4th, and what happens in Philadelphia? We get national news media attention again. This time because of a mass shooting in Southwest Philadelphia. Five people are dead, all African American males and two children were also victims of the shooting, and they are both reported in stable condition, physically. Their mental health, well, that's another subject. Here's a portion of what Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw had to say about this latest senseless violence. "At about 8:29 tonight, our officers were flagged down in the area behind me, at about 56th and Chester Street. We also received multiple calls about gunfire in the area. When officers responded, they did identify and find some gunshot victims. As they were scooping up the victims and preparing them for transport to the hospital, they also heard multiple gunshots up the street at 56th and Kingsessing Avenue, where multiple casings were found by us--after the fact.