CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Police responded early Saturday morning to a shooting at the intersection of Starr and Chaparral Streets. Two people were found at the scene and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect remains at large.
This latest incident brings the total number of shootings in the city to six, with four of them occurring in the downtown area alone. The most recent shooting before this took place on Oct. 27 in the 300 block of IH-37, where a 20-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were injured.
What stands out about these downtown shootings is that the victims are all young, and the incidents are happening in the early morning hours.
Local authorities have not confirmed whether this represents a new trend or just a spike in violence. However, data from the Gun Violence Archive shows that no shootings were reported in downtown Corpus Christi last year, though several incidents occurred on the city’s Southside.
District 1 Councilman Everett Roy said he’s not ready to call it a trend, but he acknowledges the potential for a rise in violence. As a father of a 24-year-old son who enjoys going downtown, Roy said the issue is personal for him. He mentioned a recent conversation with his son about safety.
“He said, ‘I don’t want to be the last person in the club; I want to make sure I leave at a good time because it seems to get out of hand,’” Roy said.
For many residents, the recent violence is part of a broader problem.
“It’s sad, it’s a tragedy when it happens, but it’s happening more and more everywhere,” said Daniel Bieber, a Corpus Christi resident.
Roy said the city council will gather more information on the shootings and respond once all the facts are in.
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