Gang wars returning to Plainfield?

Three incidents in the past week, including one fatality, raise questions.

With three gunplay incidents within four days, the question arises whether gang warfare is returning to Plainfield.

Saturday evening, the area of West 3rd Street and Monroe Avenue was the site of an incident in which I am told five men were shot, one of them fatally. The Ledger had a brief report in today's issue (see here).

This follows on two separate shootings on Wednesday, one at West 4th and Plainfield Avenue and the other near East 2nd Street and Garfield Avenue.

Though the authorities have been mum on whether the shootings are gang-related or connected to each other, they seem to follow a familiar pattern that we have seen all too often.

Police Director Carl Riley reported at Mayor Mapp's town hall meeting last week that violent crime is down dramatically over the first six months of last year. Let's hope this past week's incidents are not a return to the bad old times.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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