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Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez has expressed his frustration with the rising number of shootings involving children, according to a report from Houston NBC affiliate KPRC.
Gonzalez bluntly stated that the shootings are at the point of being classified a crisis, adding a “one-size-fits-all” strategy wouldn't suffice, KPRC reported. "As a community we all need to take a stand and say, 'Enough is enough,'” the longtime lawman said, per the station.
KPRC reported that through the first quarter of this year, nine children in the Houston area have either been killed or injured by gunfire.
The New England Journal of Medicine published a study that shows youth are more likely to lose their lives in a shooting as opposed to a vehicular accident, according to the station.
“We know at the end of the day, we can’t arrest our way out of these problems," the sheriff told KPRC. "We do need some strategic investments.”
As for Houston proper itself, the nation's fourth-largest city has been grappling with a rise in homicides since before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported that the city has experienced 173 homicides during the first four months of 2022, a slight yet troubling uptick from 160 during the same span last year.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) told the station that as of Sunday (May 15), there have been 46 homicides in the county, which is also a small increase from a similar period in 2021.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials in Houston said that criminals make adjustments as time goes on, according to KHOU.
"Criminal activity has changed or evolved over time," FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge James Smith said, the station reported. "Criminals adjust to various types of crimes. They learn from the mistakes they’ve made. And now they’re going forward with new tactics."