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Shooting near youth baseball games increases concerns over gun violence in Durham

A shooting at a Durham park while youth baseball games were being played Thursday night has parents and nearby residents crying foul.

Posted Updated

By
Lora Lavigne
, WRAL Durham reporter, & Rosalia Fodera, WRAL multimedia journalist
DURHAM, N.C. — A shooting at a Durham park while youth baseball games were being played Thursday night has parents and nearby residents crying foul.

A man and woman were seriously wounded in the shooting, which occurred in the parking lot of Long Meadow Park, in the 1000 block of Liberty Street.

A man whose son was playing one of on the baseball games said it was chaotic when the shots were fired.

"[We were] cheering on the kids, and next thing you know, we hear gunshots and loud commotion," he said. "We look over and see all these kids and parents – people were literally out here jumping the fence."

The games involved youths between the ages of 8 and 13.

"You don’t know what’s going to happen trying to keep your kids out of the streets and active in sports," Sheryl Smith, who lives a block from the park, said Friday. “I grew up over here. We used to walk around there to that park and play softball or watch the games every day. But we didn’t have this problem."

City Councilman Mark-Anthony Middleton has frequently pressed for efforts to quell gun violence in Durham, but he said a shooting in a park near children is even more concerning.

"I think everybody’s heart stopped to hear there were young children [nearby] – children doing what kids do," Middleton said. "It affects schoolwork. It affects their attention. It affects mental well-being, how well they sleep. And all of these things have a cumulative effect.”

Various solutions have been suggested, from a guaranteed income to technology to quickly trace the source of gunshots, but shootings in Durham continue at a record pace.

"I’ve been out here for 15 years since my son was murdered by gun violence just walking home from the store," Smith said. "That’s how long I’ve been fighting this gun violence for – almost 16 years now – and it seems things have gotten worse."

City leaders need to do more to address the problem, she said.

"Gun violence has really taken over our city, and I would like to see city leaders come with more solutions than excuses," she said.

“People are frustrated because it seems like we’re in a rush to do, and will readily do as a government, some things, and other other things we were debating and kind of caught up in the paralysis of analysis," Middleton said. "It’s time to welcome everyone to the table from every sector of the community to put every idea on the table that we have."

Police haven't released any information on a possible motive for the shooting or a description of the shooter.

The conditions of the two people wounded were unknown on Friday.

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