'Be very cautious right now'

Omaha police are stepping up enforcement efforts after five shootings that one community activist attributes to “a lot of insane mentality.”

What's happening on Omaha's streets now is crazy, Carl Washington says, and parents need to make sure their sons and daughters stay away from trouble.

“Be very cautious right now,” said Washington, who runs CW Boxing Club and has dealt with Omaha gang members for more than three decades.

“It's very hot, and it's going to get hotter.”

The five shootings occurred within three miles of one another in north Omaha in about an eight-hour span, starting about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Seven people were injured, two critically.

Omaha police, who already had extra officers assigned to the area, plan to take additional steps, although Police Chief Alex Hayes declined Thursday to specify what those actions would be.

Hayes did say that the Nebraska State Patrol is helping in and around the affected neighborhoods “on the traffic side of things.”

If more officers are on the streets and making traffic stops, the police chief said, people will be less inclined to be driving around with guns in their cars.

“It's just an increased presence. It makes people feel safer,” he said.

Hayes agreed with Washington's recommendations for parents.

“Know who your kids are hanging out with and what they're doing,” Hayes said. “Know where the kids are at.”

Washington said he suspects the overnight shootings were retaliation for earlier shootings or arguments.

“It's a ripple effect. One person shoots somebody, then there's retaliation, he shoots somebody else, they retaliate, they shoot somebody else,” Washington said.

“People just aren't getting shot randomly.”

Hayes said police still are investigating what's behind the latest shootings and whether any of them are connected.

“People are beefing,” Washington said of the violent conflicts. “Make sure your sons, daughters, grandkids do not get caught up in this.”

If your children know someone who has gang ties, he said, they need to stay clear of that person. “Don't go to his parties. . . . Come straight home from school.”

Kids, he added, often know what's happening on the street.

“The kids know more than the police know. And the police know a lot.”

Washington said authorities must get a handle on where people are obtaining guns and then, when the criminals are caught, the courts must hand out stiff sentences.

“Having a gun should be an automatic sentence,” he said. “A lot of times, guys get a chance to plea bargain out of something.”

While the recent shootings have occurred in north Omaha, people from other parts of town likely are involved, Washington said.

An Omaha.com reader, identifying herself as “North Omaha Mother,” expressed her frustration in a posting Thursday.

“It is apparent that there are many turning their heads to known activities that their children and loved ones are committing. I guess it would be too much to ask if these people who commit these crimes put themselves in the other person's shoes. No one deserves to be shot down like a dog in the street,” she wrote.

“And as far as our treatment to one another in our own community, it is horrible,” she continued. “If we don't care enough about our own community, then why would anyone outside of our community care?”

Contact the writer:

444-1109, bob.glissmann@owh.com

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