Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- There were three crime scenes in the city of Syracuse Thursday – in just a 90 minute time span. In total, six people were hurt and police have several active investigations on their hands.
Three people were injured by a steak knife on Park Avenue. Then, police were called to a double shooting on Merriman Avenue. An hour later, there was another stabbing on South Geddes Street.
At the age of six, Jimmy Mackall has seen his share of violence. A walk to the barber shop along Merriman Avenue Thursday afternoon took him past another crime scene near his home.
It’s hard to be surprised when it’s happening all the time. This area has always been like that and it’s out of control,” said the boy's mother Onjeleea Spriggs. "You're like numb to it because you live here and you have no choice but to finish walking down the street and going to the store and doing what you have to do. You can't be afraid. At the same time you've just got to live your life."
"Anytime that we have bullets flying down here in the middle of the street, in the middle of the day, children are out...you see that there are a lot of people. It's a nice day, a very dangerous situation,” explained Syracuse Police Sergeant Tom Connellan.
Two women visiting the area for a door-to-door sales job were getting their first impression of Syracuse as they walked past police cars near the shooting scene.
"We're walking down the street and people are telling us to be careful because somebody just got shot and then somebody got stabbed,” said visitor, Antanece Alexander.
"Especially me being in the city just for the day, I would never have thought I would hear somebody saying, 'oh, they were just shot and somebody else was just stabbed.' Nobody expects it,” said another visitor, Antoinette Henry.
Mackall's mom says she has come to expect the violence, which is why she keeps her son close. She's hoping to move someplace where they can both feel safer soon.
"Obviously, what goes on around you can impact your life. But, at the same time, I try to keep him away from all that and just try to still teach him as a mother to do the right thing. That is all I can do,” Spriggs said.
