Chief:
So, on Monday morning I received an email from your public information officer informing me, as a media member, that a Wheeling man was a suspect in a shots-fired incident that took place in the afternoon last Saturday.
No big deal, right? Just another shots-fired report, right?
“Around 3:45 p.m., Saturday, officers were called to the 1300 block of Eoff Street for a report of gunshots in the area. When police arrived, witnesses informed them that a man fired several shots toward an individual in front of the Formosa Apartments and then fled on foot toward Chapline Street. It was later determined no one was injured by the gunshots.
“Based on statements provided to detectives and video surveillance, police have identified Michael Shawndale Davis, 39, of Wheeling as the suspect. Davis is now wanted for two felonies – wanton endangerment and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.”
Run of the mill, some may say, but not when you live just a few blocks from where a 39-year-old man was shooting at people in front of an apartment building where many young children gather. Now, if it had occurred on a school day, East Wheeling would have been placed on voluntary lockdown because of the students inside Central Catholic High School.
TV and radio stations would have broadcast stay-away warnings, and yellow tape would have been streamed from pole to pole.
But Davis, sir, allegedly opened fire on a Saturday, and although the school wasn’t in session, many residents of East Wheeling were home, and there were no warnings to let us know bullets were flying just down the street.
Is it anyone’s fault? No. What it does mean, though, is there is a flaw in the system that impacts all residents of Wheeling because, well, people can be shot anywhere on Saturdays and Sundays the same way they can be shot on weekdays.
The solution?
Communication without a day off.
Sincerely,
Friends on Fourteenth
