Teacher Shot at School

Re “Stray Bullet Hits Teacher in Front of 5th-Graders,” Feb. 23:

The latest random shooting of teacher Alfredo Perez in front of students [at Figueroa Street Elementary School] by a stray bullet has finally crossed the line for me. We as individuals and as a community must demand a stop to these senseless uncontrolled violent acts. As a concerned citizen, who is not a resident of the inner city where most of the random violence is occurring, I must nevertheless protest the greater Los Angeles community’s mostly ineffective response to stop the senseless killings.

I do not understand how we can support a forced peace, with monies and personnel, in a foreign country like Bosnia and at the same time watch complacently as more and more of our children and other innocent victims are shot daily in our streets, without any outrage or overt community legal action to control the violence in our streets.

I implore the media and the community to pressure, demand and coerce the powers to be (city, county, state, and federal government) to respond with a quick resolution to these random senseless shootings. This can be done by activation of the appropriate military force, using martial law temporarily if necessary. The National Guard must be activated immediately to guard our inner-city streets until the unrestrained storm of violence in our streets is abated.

EDWARD O. LITTLETON

Valencia

* Your report made me wonder. How is it that we so often read reports of good people being struck down by random bullets? The first explanation is unavoidable: There are so many random bullets. But there may be another answer, which flies in the face of many of the dire descriptions of our modern society.

I think it is because there are so many good, worthy, indeed exemplary, people in Los Angeles. It may be hard for the stray bullet to miss one.

EDWARD C. BRESSLER