Apr 24, 2008 6:12 pm US/Central
Mass Shooting Part Of A Changing Chatham
Longtime Residents Say They Are Used To Quiet Community
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Resident Willie Gardner says the Chatham he knows is quiet and peaceful, but admits things may be changing.
CBS
Residents of the neighborhood where five people in their 20s were murdered Wednesday say the incident is not characteristic of the Chatham they've come to know.
As CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports, if you want to learn about the area, go to the Chatham Food Center.
"It's a meeting place, where folks from our community chat in the morning and afternoon," said center president Leonard Harris.
Longtime customers are proud of the store, as they are of their neighborhood, which one Web site says remains a location of choice for African Americans in Chicago.
"Basically I know so many people here it seems like part of my family," said Chicagoan Ted Ray.
Chatham resident Willie Gardner described it as a "very quiet, peaceful neighborhood -- the only thing I hear is the birds."
But Gardner knows it isn't always peaceful. He and others are very aware of the mass shooting that claimed five lives, and of other incidents.
Jeanne Miller said the changes in her neighborhood have made her more alert.
Ald. Freddrenna Lyle says more crime in recent years is the result of a changing Chatham. People who bought homes back in the fifties are aging away, she said, "many of the younger families are replacing families but they don't have financial security of the families they're replacing."
She thinks they have to mentor the next generation and lend a hand where it's needed.
And, she adds, "We've gotta get knuckleheads off the streets -- let 'em know we won't tolerate this."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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