Living with crossfire: the new normal in St. Joseph
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- Whether taking a trip to the grocery store or going to the salon for a touch-up, St. Joseph residents are witnessing gun violence everywhere.
For many St. Joseph residents, news of shots fired isn't news. In the last twelve months, News-Press NOW has reported on at least 14 police incidents where gunshots were fired, resulting in at least 14 injuries and four deaths. Many people are sick of it and are planning to leave St. Joseph just to escape the violence. Patrick Moore, a St. Joseph resident, was worried about the crossfire after witnessing a car chase March 27 that resulted in shots fired and the fatality of one man.
"It's getting worse, especially even in this area. It's prompting us to move," Moore said. "But while we're here, you know, we are trying to walk around and talk to people and, me personally, spread the news of the gospel to try to get people to see that there's better ways. You know, we don't have to do this. Things don't have to be what we see on TV, glorified, it's not really a glorious life, and there's other ways to deal with things."
However, Toni Spearman, owner of Tailored Designs by Toni, said it doesn't matter where you move because violence can be found anywhere.
"Unfortunately, violence happens everywhere, it's everywhere," she said.
Spearman was in her shop with a customer when the two heard gunshots nearby. These gunshots were the stray shots that hit her neighboring business, Salon 1087, on March 27. While the incident hasn't hurt her business, it's made her more cautious going to and from work.
"It's made me think different, more cautiously," Spearman said. "I'm more aware. I'm a pretty carefree person, I just am, but it makes me come to work and I think differently. Just about, you know, just being aware of my surrounding and just maybe being a little bit more cautious.
While gun violence remains a serious concern for St. Joseph residents, many argue that the solution isn't taking firearms away from the public, but rather preventing them from falling into the wrong hands.
"In general, most people are just wanting to have a gun for sport or they're wanting to have a gun for fun or self-protection," Glen Gentry, vice president of the gun shop and range, Bulls Eye Trading, said. "They're not looking for trouble, they're looking for entertainment more than anything.
Gentry said proper firearm training and safety can protect the average citizen if they face an act of gun violence.
"It's people with ill intent or bad people that do bad things with guns. It's not the guns and so they're not scary," Gentry said. "It's just one of those things we need to be able to understand them so that we can be careful with them, and we can use them and have fun with them and also use them for self-defense."
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