The coronavirus pandemic arrived in Delaware County on March 7.
Our front page heralded this new menace with two simple words: It's Here.
Since then it has been our lead story - dominating our front page - every day for the past 31 days.
But not today.
Today we again turn our focus to the city of Chester, and the senseless death of a 7-year-old boy.
Sinsir Parker was the innocent victim of a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting. He marks the city's 14th homicide of 2020. Ironically, just a few hours before we had chronicled how many police officials, including those in Chester, were noting that police calls were down since we all were ordered to stay at home by Gov. Tom Wolf.
That ended tragically when gunfire - at least 15 shots - rang out on Swarts Street in the city Sunday night. It was actually the second shooting in a matter of hours. Two men were wounded in an earlier shooting. They both are expected to recover.
Now the city is taking action.
Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland and police brass held a press conference Monday afternoon to announce new measures - including a tougher stance on social gatherings - in attempts to quell street violence, as well as protect citizens from the coronavirus.
The mayor said the city is fighting on two fronts - against the pandemic, and the scourge of random gun violence. To that end he is taking the tough stance of shutting down all city public basketball courts. He's also directing police to step up vehicle stops, in particular cars with more than two occupants.
The city also is imploring public leaders - including county council, the district attorney, and even Congresswoman May Gay Scanlon, D-5 of Swarthmore, to do ride alongs with city police to see first-hand what they are battling on city streets.
Kirkland said the city is working with corporate partners to raise $50,000 in a reward fund seeking information on the shooting of Sinsir Parker as well as other crimes.
"These young people don’t just wake up with guns in their hands,” Kirkland said. “Somebody, some persons, are providing these guns to our young people. And, quite frankly, many of these young people are even better equipped with their weapons than our law enforcement personnel. These are weapons of war in the hands of babies.”
Get all the details here.
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