3 charged in shooting of 4-year-old girl

[onehandle]

Source: Chicago Tribune

Three teenagers have been charged with attempted murder in the shooting of a 4-year-old girl as she rode her scooter near her grandmother's home early this week, authorities said.

Laquan Waters, 18, Tyrese Pearson, 17, and Roosevelt Stevens, 15, have been charged with attempted murder in the shooting about 4:55 p.m. Monday of Khalise Weatherspoon, said Cook Count state's attorney's spokeswoman Tandra Simonton. Khalise was the fourth child age 7 or younger to be shot and wounded in Chicago in July.

The girl was on a scooter, playing with her 3-year-old brother and two older sisters just down the block from their grandmother's home near 71st and Rockwell streets in Marquette Park, when two gunmen stepped out of an alley and opened fire about 4:55 p.m. Monday, according to family and police. Khalise was struck in the abdomen and a 31-year-old man was also hit.

The girl was taken by a neighbor to Holy Cross Hospital, then transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was listed in good condition. The man suffered a gunshot wound to the buttocks and was taken to Holy Cross Hospital.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-3-charged-in-shooting-of-4yearold-girl-20130802,0,4492853.story?track=rss

---

Cletus sez: 'Totally worth mah freedum.'

[heaven05]

1. this

type of criminal activity is a stain on the fabric of human existence. No need. Just points to the wild west mentality engendered by idea that guns are good. The photo above shows part of the problem. That goddamn chicago 'mayor' better get a handle on this type of situation instead of closing schools where kids could possibly have a chance to learn something that can possibly better their lives. Ahhhhhh........never mind I'm just being stupid.

[pipoman]

2. How about the Chicago mayor

get a handle on the gang problem in Chicago, the other will take care of itself..of coarse we don't know if this specific crime was gang related, but the majority of homicides in Chicago are it seems..

[hack89]

8. How about the wild west mentality engendered by illegal drugs?

How about the mayor get a handle on illegal drugs and gangs?

[heaven05]

11. that's

part of the problem and possible solution. No argument from me. Yet Bubba is still a symbol of the wider problem, whether you like me pointing that part of the problem out.

[hack89]

22. I don't associate "Bubba" with inner city gangs

There are many "cultures" in American society that enthusiastically embrace guns. Not all of them are RW white men.

Trying to fit everyone in to a single "gun culture" is meaningless if you want to fix the problem.

[heaven05]

37. okay

what's your answer to fixing the problem of the proliferation of guns in our society?

[hack89]

39. Better background checks and a crack down on criminals.

let's remember one salient fact - the "proliferation" of guns has not let to more gun violence. The opposite is in fact true - gun violence has steadily fallen for the past 20 years and is at historic lows. We have cut our murder rate in half in that time frame. More can be done but let's not forget that doing nothing will still result in less gun violence.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

40. I don't really see a difference between "Bubba" and uhh... "insert stereotypical name here"

"Urban Culture" and "Southern Culture" are both cancers destroying our society, the mentalities are more or less identical and both are largely based on validating masculinity through swaggering with firearms.

[hack89]

42. As a member of the " New England Educated Professional Culture"

who enjoys guns, would you consider me a cancer on society?

Because that is the issue - an attempt by some anti-gunners here to squeeze all gun owners into a single box such that we are all the moral equivalents of gang bangers or RW militia members. The "law abiding gun owner" meme is a classic example of this.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

48. The problems with "Southern Culture" and "Urban Culture" go far beyond guns

I don't think you would claim that your "New England Educated Professional Culture" peers associate your masculinity with firearms, nor do I think you would claim that you experience much peer pressure positive or negative where guns are concerned.

[hack89]

54. Yet many here lump me into one big "gun culture"

because I have some AR-15s sitting in my gun safe. There is one prominent anti-gunner who has told me that competitive target shooting is merely practicing to shoot humans.

You appear to have a somewhat nuanced view on gun owners and will accept that the idea of reasonable and safe gun ownership is possible and common. Many here do not. My only point.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

60. Agreed. Reasonable and safe gun ownership is possible and common.

[Igel]

56. There are some sort of open secrets.

If you like American Jewish food and you go to Poland, you find that a lot of "Jewish" food is slightly altered Polish food (minus all the pig parts, naturally).

If you look at what's called "soul" food in the Northern US, you find a lot of poor Southern food, slightly altered.

Great Migration took a lot of Southern cultural traits and moved them so that they were identified as "African-American." Same for language. 250 years ago, what became AAVE was more like "white" English dialects in the South and Black Belt (speaking soil type here) than it is now--and blacks in the North spoke English not much different from what surrounded them. The Great Migrations and really the '60s "standardized" AAVE to a great extent.

Antebellum "Southern culture" was a backwater. It has a lot of traits in common with older English culture (heck, just "older cultures&quot .

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

70. Just to be clear here,

When I say "Southern Culture" I'm referring to a confederate flag on the back of a pickup truck and everything that goes with that.

[Eleanors38]

29. Bubba? Symbol of Chicago murder culture? not buying it.

[heaven05]

38. not

asking you to buy it. Guns are the problems whether in the hands of a zimmerman(bubba)or inner city 'murder culture'. Same problem. Same outcome. Innocents are shot and sometimes die.

[billh58]

43. Guns are a cancer

on our society, and those that carry them in public metastasize the disease.

[heaven05]

51. yep

[Eleanors38]

45. I'll wait til I see the faces of the punks who do the killing...

...not the socially-acceptable images of "others," cantilevered inevitably to a gun- ban argument. Folks at DU have seen this culture war smear quite frequently. Were you here when the Boston bombings were tied directly to the NRA? Same mediocre crap; it only hardens the very effective resistance to ANY gun control ideas..

Over 80,000,000 American citizens lawfully guns, and over 79,999,900 did not commit "gun crimes" last week. Guns are demonstrably NOT the problem. Quite frankly, more than 70% of homicides are committed by those with multiple felonies, most often against other repeat-felons, most often in the same urban areas.

But I'm glad some of our controller " activists" have discovered other peoples and cultures beyond Sandy Hook, even if, as with the posted images, the usual acceptable villains are as white aa the inside of my. Wrist.

[heaven05]

55. well

I'm aware of the code word 'urban'(black) as used by some in this society and tying it, the word and people, to the 70% rate of felonious homicide committed by those same 'urban' dwellers, is crap from the toilet. Yeah, all that you say about the 70million plus may be true. Punks are the ones, black, white and asian, that shoot up movie theaters, elementary schools, college campuses, down crowded streets full of children. Your not so disguised attempt at painting blacks as the problem and not guns in the wrong hands, psychotics and sociopaths who have them, black and white, is despicable to me. I sense you're one of the gun culture aficionados trying to dress up the gun wielding insanity of this society. Lipstick on a pig, as it were. Fine. Fine on the NRA/boston bombing bullcrap. I saw also in that tragedy, the MSM, because of some coloration of the perps on camera were saying in the beginning of the case that they were 'urban dwellers', your term. So bullcrap again on your attempt to make the case that Bubba is not a big part of the problem. Bubba is a fact!!! Gun loving Bubba is a fact. Gun using racist Bubba is a fact! Zimmerman proved that beyond a doubt and that only because of the high profile of the case. There are many more zimPIG type shootings, unwarranted and by whites. Just not reported. There are many white on white shootings in neighborhoods in america that just aren't reported in a high profile manner. Must keep that gentile facade up. That 70% bullshit? Flush it and have a lovely day.

[Eleanors38]

64. A clear example of the smear and animosity used by controllers.

You need to get past your stereotypes and prejudices and baiting and look at hard facts, including the ones I recounted. Either recognize the concentration of homicides in Urban areas committed by Repeat Felons -- and thereby have the opportunity to address on many levels that oft-overlooked problem -- or deny the hard facts and go about on a self-serving rant (inevitably built around "racism&quot and let the problem fester until the next "gentile" mass murder distracts your attention from the Urban murders.

Please, in the future keep your accusations to yourself, and move the duscussion beyond DU-sanctioned hatred and attack. It doesn't do this country -- and obviously the Party -- any good to persist in that approach.

[heaven05]

65. you're

one of the hopelessly lost in our culture who cannot see past ones parochial view of society. It's just not the way you paint it. White people and guns are part of the overal problem in this society. Blacks killing blacks(repeat felons), like whites don't have repeat gun nut felons, DO NOT get a pass from me. You're ignoring the 'gentile' mass murders in favor of your jaundiced view of 'urban dwellers'. Does not wash and, with me, NEVER WILL! Guns in general are THE big problem, not 'urban dwellers'. So stay in your little bubble of skewed opinion and be happy. I know what the problems of 'urban dwellers' are and it is not "repeat felons" with guns. You are contributing to the problem by not being able to see past your nose. I'm done with someone like you. I know, you don't. Period.

[Eleanors38]

69. You don't make sense, now. Prejudice will do that. nt

[billh58]

71. When you're dealing

with the "cold dead hands" hardcore gun fetishists, reason doesn't work. They hide behind the Second Amendment as if it were a shield, and spew NRA propaganda from that "protected" place. They use statistics which have been cherry-picked by the NRA, and put them forth as the absolute final proof that guns for everybody is the only solution to an over-rated and media-driven gun problem in this country.

They also like to believe that they speak for "80,000,000" American gun owners, most of which are responsible and agree with many of the gun control measures being considered. The gun activists that frequent the right-wing Gungeon on DU, and other right-wing Internet gun sites, are in no way representative of typical American gun owners in general.

The obvious truth is that yes, the unfettered proliferation of guns in this nation is a big problem and those owners who deny that fact are a large part of the problem because they enable the NRA to buy and bully politicians.

[Eleanors38]

75. "Cold dead hands?" Like Bill Maher?

[Comrade Grumpy]

18. Or the mayor could run on the Guns and Dope Party ticket.

http://www.gunsanddopeparty.com/

[Heather MC]

50. Most of the guns are being funneled in from Indiana gun shows. Chicago sounds like a war zone

This is sick.

[hack89]

53. The majority come from Illinois, followed by Indiana and Mississippi.

The Chicago Police Department traced the origins of about 50,000 guns that it recovered between 2001 and March 2012.

Illinois 22,051
Indiana 7,747
Mississippi 4,296
Wisconsin 1,647
Kentucky 1,226
Ohio 1,121
Tennessee 1,090
Alabama 1,070
Arkansas 944
Texas 937

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/29/us/where-50000-guns-in-chicago-came-from.html?_r=0

[NYC_SKP]

3. Your picture doesn't match the story. In any event, I'm glad the girl is OK.

And the perpetrators need to be seriously dealt with.

What is it, (and it's not bubba) that makes kids go crazy with guns in urban Chicago and elsewhere?

Poverty and hopelessness. The 15, 17, and 18 year-olds who did this were without a chance from birth.

Hopeless schools, a hopeless culture, no economic possibilities were ever presented to them and the idea of self-esteem in a productive sense as far away as planet Mars.

Here is Khalise Weatherspoon:

She is adorable! What, seriously, can we do to give her generation hope?

[heaven05]

10. to me

bubba is a symbol of a wider problem. Not excusing the individual that perpetrated this outrage on this little girl. I agree with everything you mentioned about hopelessness and economic possibilities being zero. Crazy with guns, it's part of the sub-culture of what I call thugrap music and the wider gun mentality exhibited by people like zimmerman. Lot of fear, ignorance and downright stupidity out there and I don't know the answer to the gun problem in america.

[NYC_SKP]

13. True. Bubba is (was) a problem, but is only tangentially related to this crime and this story.

To try to tie him to the crime is somewhat bigoted.

I was curious and found that the "bubba" dude was a youtube poster named Keith Ratliff who lived in Georgia until he was shot in the head (I know).

To tie a southern white gun nut to the inner city crime conditions of Chicago is messed up, IMO.

While true that the gun nut was fomenting gun love, he probably pissed off just as many and might have negated any pro-gun effect nationwide.

In any event, I highly doubt that the shooters in this case ever saw any of Keith's youtubes videos.

IMO, the OP is cheapened by the inclusion of that picture.

[heaven05]

16. You're

entitled to see what you want. I am not tying Bubba to anything about the shooting, just that bubba represents to me the wider problem of guns and their lovers when looking at particularly ugly shootings such as this. Thugrap and a host of socio-economic reasons, drugs included, contribute to the mindset of blacks with guns. The wider problem is guns in our society and I definitely see that as a contributing factor in this tragedy/crime. Bubba represents the ignorance and stupidity that pervades our society in general and is perpetuated by stupid people, whether in Sanford, Florida or the streets of Chicago.

[NYC_SKP]

20. I never meant to suggest that you, personally, were tying bubba to the crime. I agree with you.

The bubba gun culture is OTT and whacky and contributes as do so many other things, like video games and violent music, to a violent culture.

However, the OP chose a picture of an easy to pick on demographic: a Southern White Male.

A cheap shot, IMO, and a distraction I think to the conversation we need to be having which would be more about inequity, poverty, and racism.

[heaven05]

36. true

[branford]

33. Bubba???

Although I'm just a white, liberal, yankee lawyer in NYC, who does not own a gun nor has any desire to do so, I know of few cultural similarities between our urban minority youth and southern rural whites. Accordingly, if you believe (as do I) that "thugrap" is a major contributor to the problem of intra-racial handgun violence among young, black, inner city males, none of whom could ever legally own a gun, I cannot honestly comprehend how you believe that a "Bubba," a poorly educated, middle-aged, southern while male, who uses various rifles that are virtually never used in crime, is representative of the problem you cite. The "Bubba" association with the horrible crime referenced in the OP could be uncharitably viewed as bigoted.

If a poster presented a picture of any number of various minority rappers as representative of gun crime, I'm confident that numerous DU members would howl in protest at both the express and implied racism. I would certainly agree with many these posters. Crime, gun crime in particular, has many causes and symptoms that vary among the different and diverse communities in our country. Broad solutions have been historically elusive, even while acknowledging that gun crime has been steadily decreasing in recent decades while the amount of guns in the country has significantly increased.

If you want to properly protest those who support gun rights, I respectfully suggest it would be far more appropriate to include portraits of James Madison, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson or any other Founding Father who fervently supported the inclusion of the Second Amendment in our Constitution, and the "gun culture" that inevitably followed. I, for one, would be honored to be associated with leaders of such wisdom and renown.

Simply, racial and geographic stereotyping and demagoguery is neither representative of the problem of gun crime, nor particularly useful in the search for solutions.

[heaven05]

35. I guess

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

41. I have been to some pretty hopeless places in the world,

Other than drunks pummeling each other in the street 24/7, they typically weren't terribly violent.

[jwirr]

4. This is a case where I hope they are tried as adults.

[RebelOne]

6. Ditto. That was a despicable crime. n/t

[Red Knight]

5. And this

From the article:

Earlier in the week, police had no description of the shooters. Detectives were able to track down the suspects despite lack of cooperation from Khalise's family in identifying the shooters, an official said today.

Was it fear? Was there some connection with the shooters the family didn't want revealed?

This country is mentally ill.

Families are broken, guns rule the day, poverty is for poor people and outrage is saved for silly issues.

What is going to stop this spiral?

The government? Not with these guys.

The people? Not likely. They are easily divided into warring factions who can't agree on anything and the teams of partisan politicians, corrupt moneymen and a complicit media all contribute to the propaganda that pulls their strings.

The future doesn't look so great.

[Duckhunter935]

7. Glad the cops got them

but it does help if the family would help them by identifying the perps.

"Earlier in the week, police had no description of the shooters. Detectives were able to track down the suspects despite lack of cooperation from Khalise's family in identifying the shooters, an official said today."

one of the reasons most of the shootings are not solved, lack of cooperation from the community. They are also the first ones to complain I suspect.

[Archae]

9. There is this "Don't snitch" campaign going on in some communities.

Including some in Chicago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Snitchin'

[KinMd]

46. Giving the police information can get you killed in some neighborhoods..

it could be the police are giving them cover for any info they did give.

[grilled onions]

17. Poverty Is For Poor People

What a quote! Those five words are the mantra of wealthy America. They think you are what you are and they will be damned if you should ever do better/prosper. They want you there. It makes them feel secure in Smugville.

[HolyMoley]

12. All 3 are probably NRA members and Zimmerman supporters.

I wonder if prison policy will allow them to have their monthly issue of "American Rifleman" forwarded to their jail cells?

[dorkulon]

15. Didn't even look at the story, did you? nt

[onehandle]

23. No. They are subjects of the 'trickle down' effect of gun nuttery.

The African-American community suffers because NRA/Zimmerman types have opened the floodgates for gun companies.

[samsingh]

26. they probably are.

[840high]

27. I doubt it. Read the story next time.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

32. Uh huh....

I'm sure "Laquan", "Tyrese" and "Roosevelt" will fit right in at the next NRA confab.

[NYC_SKP]

34. Definitely did not even click on the link, did they...

Good grief!

[heaven05]

74. no

more misinformed than the gun nuts on here who blame all 'urban dwellers' for high violent gun incidences in the great country of ours, some on here say as high as 70% of all crimes are committed by 'urban dwellers. The NRA put that one out there and faux news ran with it so the 'other' gun nuts can justify their insanity.

[L0oniX]

14. Wow ...so uhm it's not just Florida huh. When does the Chicago boycott begin? n/t

[ConcernedCanuk]

19. Shooting children - that is SOOOOOOOOOO sick.

.
.
.

I'm sure glad us Canucks are not allowed to carry around firearms like our southern neighbors.

But then again, we are not engaged in constant war, USA needs that kind of mentality to feed it's war-machine.

From the article at the link:

Three other young children were shot and wounded in Chicago in July:

• A 7-year-old boy was shot in the neck in Cole Park in the Chatham neighborhood on July 3.

• Jaden Donald, 5, was shot in the chest at Cooper Park in the West Pullman neighborhood early on July 4.

• Quianna Tomplins, 6, was shot while riding a scooter in the Roseland neighborhood July 20. She was at a memorial for a man shot to death on the same street five years ago.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Anyone see anything wrong here?



CC

[7962]

30. Carrying guns in Chicago is illegal. HAVING them is illegal. Just like where you live.

SO whats different about where you are and Chicago I wonder?

[ConcernedCanuk]

31. "SO whats different about where you are and Chicago I wonder?"

.
.
.

Because our whole country is not allowed to own or carry without special permits,

handguns and their ammunition are not easily come by.

THAT's the big difference.

CC

[7962]

44. Right. So there are NO guns. (for the most part) Just like England

But here there are already 300million here. And its obvious that making them totally illegal in Chicago doesnt keep the criminals from having them. Just like in DC. We cannot get rid of them. Of course we need laws, but not to the point of stopping someone from being able to protect themselves. The cat (gun) is outta the bag. If guns were completely outlawed there would still be 300 million out there.
Gun nuts dont want to admit that we WOULD be safer if there were no guns. But gun control folks dont want to admit that outlawing them wont get rid of them.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

59. A difference may be that the laws against gun-carrying gang members in Chicago have been lax.

In the recent past, instead of keeping a gun-carrying gang member in prison for a sufficient time so that they cannot easily have access to more firearms, a judge could impose a 2-year sentence with the actual result that gang member would only spend 1-year and come back to the streets with greater street credibility. Be good in prison, and they let you out early. Some objected so the 50% rule was changed to 85%.

Even under the 85% rule, a gun-carrying gang member doesn't always serve time. A snitch, or even a gang member who plants drugs on someone else like a cop and then snitches about it, can get a free pass. There's also other reasons for giving a gun-carrying gang member a free pass. They always argue that they are carrying for self-defense. If they find the right lawyer who is connected to the right judge, (i.e., read political donations and politicial clout), the judge, like the cops or the State's attorney, can give them a pass.

Some are now saying that the so-called 2-year minimum sentence rule should be changed to 3-years. Maybe it will be.

On the other hand, maybe a mandatory minimum time for gun carrying gang members should be 20-years, or 30-years, or whatever it takes.

[ConcernedCanuk]

62. What I was trying to say

.
.
.

A country that allows guns, especially handguns to be allowed to regular citizens,

can expect more violent crime!

period.

CC

[AnotherMcIntosh]

63. Including Switzerland?

[ConcernedCanuk]

66. Switzerland does not have a standing army - it's preparation for defense is a private militia.

.
.
.

Also - handguns in Switzerland are sorta like Canada - ya gotta have special permits to even own one.

Switzerland does not have a record of violent internal crime like the USA does.

They have a different mentality towards guns, as do us Canucks.

USA citizens use them on each other daily.

Wanna check it out re Switzerland?

Here ya go: http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/switzerland

Don't pursue me on this; next time,

do your own research.

CC

[AnotherMcIntosh]

67. Stay on topic. Switzerland has the world’s third-highest number of privately held guns per person,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/02/08/why-switzerland-has-so-many-guns/

At post #62, you said "A country that allows guns, especially handguns to be allowed to regular citizens, can expect more violent crime!"

An informed person would know that gun ownership in Switzerland is high while violent crime is low.

Because you then sought to change the subject, you apparently know that as well.

[ConcernedCanuk]

68. "handguns"

.
.
.

you missed that part

I'm done here.

CC

[grilled onions]

21. They Used To Call It A War Zone

It is true for kids trying to go to school,go to the store for candy or actually play on the sidewalk in front of their house they are in the cross hairs of some nutjob, a gang, a criminal hell bent on seeking money or a hostage or live target practice. But it is more then that. We can start with the gun culture. Yes, drugs,crime and even poverty come into play. But kids,sadly, are more familiar with guns(what gun is what for example) but safety is never part of their learning curve. They grow up knowing more about guns and what they THINK they are for than kids in past generations which were more familiar with tools of less destruction like hoes for the field, carpenter tools to make soap box cars and later tools to fix that first jalopy they owned.
Kids see it in the movies. They hear it in the music. The love of guns is everywhere. Young kids have little fear of using them, many times not even understanding the result and far too many use the gun to get what they can't get otherwise.
Was it that long ago when the only gun owners were those who had shops that stayed open late at night(as well as law enforcement)? Now it's the collectible. See how many you can own! See how much fire power you can collect! Get your own arsenal! It's the Jell-o of the decade--there is always room for one more!!

[alp227]

24. So time to arm kids now?

because it's THEIR responsibility to be the " good guys with guns".

[valerief]

25. GZ defense: "The girl looked suspicious-like. She coulda been wearing a suicide bomb or somethin'.

Riding around the neighborhood like that, she coulda blown ever'one up. We wuz only pertectin' Amurka."

[Igel]

57. Yup.

It's the GZ defense entirely.

Had the little girl been white, she'd still be alive today--you know that's true, don't be a zpig supporter and try to claim otherwise--and that's all the proof we need to confidently claim that the shooters were racists. Racial profiling.

[valerief]

61. I was thinking more gun-loving vigilanteism. What's the sense of having a gun

to protect people if you can't shoot at them? That's gungeoneer logic.

GZ doesn't hate black people as much as he loves shooting people. It's the gun he loves more than anything else.

On edit: but it's clear he hates black people, too!

[samsingh]

28. guns are enabling this type of crime

[KinMd]

47. What if Laquan, Tyrese, and Roosevelt had been stopped and frisked prior to the shooting..just askin

[ileus]

49. and people want to disarm citizens...

to make more victims...some people attach zero value to human life.

[tabasco]

52. Were they "standing their ground?"

The it's all okey dokey.

[Igel]

58. So "Bubba" is with this story because he's just symbolic for you.

If I get a picture of these three shooters and start posting their picture as a symbol of gun-culture with a slogan, "Proud Defenders of America's Gun Culture" on every gun-related post that would be fine?

Assuming, of course, I can find one with them posing with firearms and ammo.

No problem?

[Pterodactyl]

72. I blame Chicago's gun culture.

[heaven05]

73. I

blame america's gun culture.