Two more people shot in Santa Ana as crime spirals out of control

“Two people were shot early Sunday morning in the parking lot of the 7-Eleven at 400 N. Grand Avenue, in Santa Ana,” according to the O.C. Register.

One victim, a 29-year-old man, was shot in the upper body and taken to a local hospital. The second victim, a 28-year-old woman, was injured when a bullet grazed her upper body. She was treated at the scene and released.

Why is crime so out of control in Santa Ana?  I asked a friend that question yesterday.  He volunteers at a local non-profit involved in helping Santa Ana’s youth, in the inner city.

His answers were compelling.  Part of the problem is the rampant poverty in our city – which has worsened with the onset of the Bush Depression.  But that is only half the story.  We have a real problem with drugs in our city – but we are not talking about pot and coke.  The new drugs of choice are Nitrous Oxide, or Nox, and Ecstasy.  These are cheap highs.  My friends said that young people will buy balloons full of Nox at parties for one dollar.

And who is pushing this stuff on our young people?  The gangs of course.  And the SAPD is not doing much about Nox as there are not many laws on the books regarding illicit use of this gas.

According to my friend, hundreds of Santa Ana kids, most of them underage, get high every weekend, at various parties.  God only knows what Mondays are like at the local high schools.

The bottom line is that parents are not parenting.  And the result is not good.  We have the lowest graduation rates in the county – and the highest rate of violent crime.

The city leaders figure into this too, what with only one fully functioning library in town and a terrible shortage of parks.  Their anti-business policies also have scared off a lot of companies that might otherwise have given kids other stuff to do.  We have no bowling alleys in Santa Ana – no ice skating rinks – no new movie theaters, etc.  Most folks have to leave town to have fun, to Irvine or Orange, or get high.

Now that gangs have started to shoot each other in north Santa Ana, there really is nowhere to hide…


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"Admin" is just editors Vern Nelson, Greg Diamond, or Ryan Cantor sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.