2009 Off to a Very Violent Start in Luzerne County! (Scranton: apartment, violent crime)

[SteelCityRising]

Well here we are still in March and thus far I can recall the following violent crime incidents:

• 3/28: A man involved in a massive brawl outside of Schiel's Market in South Wilkes-Barre dies from his injuries, becoming yet another homicide victim in what is becoming a very bloody year for Wilkes-Barre. This is at least the fifth murder so far in 2009 in Luzerne County, and it's only March. At this rate we're looking at 20 or more murders by the close of the year, which while probably not significant for a population of 300,000 is still much higher than to what we've been accustomed in prior years.
• 3/27: Two students from my King's College community were violently attacked in the ghetto neighborhood near the St. Vincent dePaul Soup Kitchen while walking down the street. One was stabbed from behind and another was beaten in what may have been a "random" incident. As a King's student I am IMPLORING Mayor Leighton to just bulldoze that entire ghetto trash area around the soup kitchen already! I, too, had to outrun a nitwit there on one occasion en route to campus merely because I said "good morning" to him the wrong way as I passed him on the sidewalk, where he lay passed out drunk. Too bad I didn't have a permit to carry a concealed weapon!
• 3/22: A man from New York City is murdered in the parking lot of a popular night club in suburban Wilkes-Barre.
• 3/21: A young mother from Exeter is pronounced dead when her neighbors discover her body on the front lawn of her low-income housing project. Her death has been ruled a homicide; she had blunt-force trauma to her head.
• 3/5: A man from the Back Mountain gunned down his brother and then turned the gun on himself in a murder-suicide that erupted over a dispute over property boundaries (of course this was kept hush-hush so that the over-inflated Back Mountain housing prices don't come crashing down over news of two murders out there in as many years).
• 2/3: A man from Wilkes-Barre is found dead inside of his apartment along North Main Street. His death is ruled a homicide. His death is the first murder of 2009 in Luzerne County after a promisingly quiet January.

[InfectedMushroom]

Yeah it's been pretty crazy this year so far. It really makes me need to get away from here. I go to Schiel's if I'm already home because it's only a couple blocks away, but usually i go to Wegmans. I am not sure about other days, but whenever I go to Schiel's on Sundays in the later hours, they have a cop who is there.

I know they can't have a cop there all the time, as people we shouldn't live in fear but if two groups are going to fight...they will find somewhere. It just happened to be that parking lot. I have seen plenty in the parks near my house to know it has gone on for many years. It's just a shame that someone died from this incident, as it should not have gone to that.

[SteelCityRising]

As an update a partially decomposed body was found in a creek in South Wilkes-Barre yesterday, and now another man was just stabbed near a donut shop in the city. What is going on lately?!! It seems as if our area's crime is cyclical. 2008 was a very violent year for Scranton/Lackawanna County after 2007 was a very violent year for Wilkes-Barre/Luzerne County. Now in 2009 it has flip-flopped again with Scranton/Lackawanna County being fairly tranquil.

[W-B proud]

It has been strangely violent March. I hope this isn't an indicator of what is to come for the rest of the year. WNEP just reported that the homicide at Schiel's Market was the third homicide in Luzerne County this week!. I wouldn't be surprised if Luzerne County is keeping pace with Philly so far this year. It is a shame, people have no regard for life anymore, they settle thier disputes like animals. As far as that bad neighborhood by the soup kitchen... I agree 100%. I wish they would bulldoze that whole area and build new townhouse's for the college kids in that neighborhood, and patrol the area. I think that would transform that entire area, but just like anything else, it's a money issue. Someone would have to pay for it.

[SteelCityRising]

Good Lord! I just tuned into the 11 PM WNEP news cast to hear about yet ANOTHER violent shooting in Wilkes-Barre. This comes on the heels of hearing about a standoff inside of Beech Mountain Lakes, a gated community between Mountain Top and Hazleton, and a possibly RANDOM stabbing behind a donut shop in Wilkes-Barre.

[SteelCityRising]

It sounds like this is now officially the FOURTH homicide this week now in the immediate Wilkes-Barre vicinity! What is going on in this area? Judging by some of the "element" that saunters into my workplace from Edwardsville I wouldn't be surprised if MORE murders happen this week as well! So much RANDOM crimes have been occurring too as of late. Should I really start packing heat?

[InfectedMushroom]

I think you would be safer if you did. Hell, it's your right to protect yourself.

It has been a really violent week in this area...and it's a shame it's all people who didn't live here 10 years ago, even 5 years ago -=\

[W-B proud]

I make sure that I always have my "flak jacket" on before I leave my house. After that, I lock and load my AK-47 assault rifle, before leaving for work in my armored vehicle...You can never be too cautious these days.

[Mr Yuk]

I'd bet that most of these crimes are drug-related in some way or another. I think its time to step up the war on drugs. Death penalties for drug dealers...dry up the supply. If it wasn't for drugs, this area would be like an episode of "Leave it to Beaver."

[InfectedMushroom]

OR...if drugs were legal, we wouldn't have this crime over illegal things going on. The gov't should worry about other things than what someone does in their own house, and they could tax and monitor them. Legal drugs would get rid of the dealers and the senseless killing that goes with it.