Summer at Sewall Has Begun

So the summer heat has finally caught up to our wonderful neighborhood. Last night I was walking back from the gym and met up with Steph, who was just leaving work. As we walk by Mission Main we saw that one of the streets was taped off by the police. We both rolled our eyes, laughed, and said wonderful. As we continue our trek home we turn the corner to Sewall St. to find the top taped off as well. Our neighbors were outside and said that they heard fireworks, which seemed a little fishy for so much police activity. Steph and I once again just laughed and rolled our eyes. Minutes later, Steph goes to take the trash out and comes back and says that our street is now completely taped off. Awesome- the crime scene has moved down to our street. We get curious and decide to venture outside to see what happened because apparently it wasn't fireworks like our neighbors had claimed. We notice that Tremont Street is completely taped off as well since there were no cars driving by and police officers and detectives were walking in the middle of the street. There were also a couple reporters with videocameras taping our street and Tremont Street. We venture down to the street to hear a Channel 5 reporter stating that a 7 year old boy was shot in the back in an apparent crossfire. YIKES. There were police officers everywhere scanning the street for evidence and bullet casings, which apparently were found on Tremont between Sewall and Parker. A number of other people are standing around, wondering was was going on. The words 'gang retaliation' hung at the tip of every one's tongue. Later on, we discovered that the boy was playing kickball when he was shot and he began running home. At least two other people were shot, but the little boy was the cause for all the commotion. My heart goes out to the boy's family. He is still in the hospital. My prayers and thoughts are with the boy and his family. Nobody should be caught in the middle of a shootout, especially someone as innocent as a little boy. The neighborhood does have a reputation for violence and hopefully this does not become the theme of the summer.

Obviously I would hate to end this on a sad note, so I thought I would let everyone know that Scout is having an awesome time on vacation at Grandma Shennen's. She hid for the first day, but is now friendly and affectionate. Thanks Nicole for shuttling her around!
Oh yeah, Pat finally signed up for facebook :)