I don't even know what to comment about this stuff any more. Is this just the new normal?

I hope not.

seriously! what is going on around here?

Agree with Chris. Anyone that invades your home is absolute scum and lowest level of society. Why can't everyone just get along.

Wow, there have been some very high profile and brazen crimes in the last few months; The robbery at the Highland pub, two kidnappings in Cabbage Town and many others. With so many kids now in Grant Park, Ormewood Park and East Atlanta, we don't have time for all of this. I don't know what can be done, but I hope our city leaders are tuning into this mess, otherwise there is going to be a mass exodus of all of these new families back to suburbia. I think we are entering a tipping point one way or another.

I still think these incidents are the exception and not the norm. Crime can happen anywhere, even in the suburbs. These crime waves tend to occur in clusters and then lull.
@ OP Resident: Do you think the neighborhoods haven't gentrified to the point where a slide back not possible?

I think the victim's house is already for sale...

I agree. These are not the norm. On occasion something like this does and will happen in any intown area and even non intown. Being good neighbors, watching out for each other, security cameras, front yard fences, all help in most areas likeEAV, Ormeiwwd Park and Grant Park. Staying alert, not keeping large screen TVA and computers near from accessible windows all helps. The neighborhoods continue to grow and become better and better and by joining your neighborhood security patrols (yes, pay te money to be on The patrolled list) and be a part of the solution will make it all get better and better. This one sounds like it sucked but no one was injured thankfully.

I have lived in Atlanta (Va-Hi, KWD, S.Dekalb) for 20+ years, most of those as an unarmed pacifist so I feel a little odd quoting Robert Heinlein, but I do believe that "An armed society is a polite society." I am now armed and will not let thugs keep me from living, going, and doing what I want. As more decent, law-abiding citizens begin to arm themselves, the criminals will have to think twice before committing their misdeeds. I realize this post may make me sound like a right-wing gun nut (I do believe in gun control and for the most part my political ideology leans toward the left), but I am glad I have the legal right to own and carry a gun for my protection.

Perhaps we ought to restrict gun access? Second Amendment notwithstanding, I've never understood Americans' cultworship of weapons. I remember being overseas on holiday where they had a murder - the first they saw in years. It was headline news for entire two weeks and several people in man-on-street interviews kept saying "this isn't America; this isn't supposed to happen here."

Another night, a waiter asked me how many guns I had (Zero, I told him). He said watching the BBC news on America he assumed shootings and pillaging were so commonplace that everyone walked the streets strapped like Rambo.

My concern about gun ownership is that there have been a number of times in my life where if I had a gun with me I would have pulled it out in fear for my life. The outcome would probably have been much different. The moment you pull that gun you must be willing to pull the trigger, especially if they have a gun. Most criminals are not trying to kill you. It is a tough situation because I can see both sides. But if you pull out your gun and start shooting and miss that person or they miss you and the bullet easily goes through a window or sheet rock and kills your neighbor or their kids how would you feel? Please make sure your bullets are at least the type that will stop if they hit bone or wood so they will not continue to travel through houses. Also, a nice alternative is a shotgun with rocksalt but that would not have helped if you are sitting on your porch. Anothe point is that a lot of this crimes are sudden, so a gun tucked away in the house or car would not help. I would also not want to hang out with someone who is drinking late at night with a gun on their hip either. Just a lot to think about. I don't think there is a right answer. At least not for me.

Peralte, why don't you ask Mexico how their restricted gun access is working out for them? To legally own a hand-gun in Mexico, it cannot be bigger than a .38 revolver and you must take it to the police station and have it registered. Assuming the police don't confiscate it and keep it for themselves, the legal gun owner takes it back to his house. Of course, driving to/fro the police station he will pass numerous narco gang members with illegal automatic & semi-automatic rifles & hand-guns. Take a look at the murder rate there and still see if you would like to restrict access for citizens here.

And did you not take American History in school ('...I've never understood Americans' cultworship of weapons.")? The gun was a way of life, and defense of things/people that may do you harm: Bears, wolves, cougars, Native warriors, French/English/Spanish soldiers, robbers/outlaws. Not to mention that there wasn't any Krogers or Publix; people actually had to kill animals themselves. Deer & buffalo are much easier to take down with a rifle. I'll agree that most city dwellers don't hunt, but please be aware that there is a whole lot of people outside of I-285 who do.

Anjin-san: I, too, have spent a fair amount of time camping, hiking and canoeing/rafting in places OTP — and I've seen my fair share of Piggly-Wigglys, Ingleses, Publixes and Krogers. I have no problem with hunting, but I fail to see how the right to bear arms is interpreted as meaning you have the right to an AK-47, Uzi or other machine gun and mass weapons of warcraft. In all the times I've gone camping, we've never had our campsites stormed by group of bears or deer or wolves armed with semi-automatic weapons.

I took U.S. history along with World History as part of my studies and while the reasons you cite are true, none of my relatives in France nor Spain have ever mentioned to me a groundswell of discussions about their respective countries wanting to take back the Americas.

I still don't see how restricting certain weapons translates to the crumbling of the 2nd Amendment. There was a shootout at Trestle Tree Village in Ormewood Park a few weeks back (http://patch.com/A-tvLk) where one gunman had an M-16 and the other, an AK-47. Stricter controls seems to be the answer to me.

As for Mexico, the reason why it's so violent is because the cartels are battling to capture as much of a share of the illicit drug trade as possible in the USA — the world's biggest market for drugs. So the solution — at least in part — to their problem rests in how Americans on this side, address this Bacchan need to be high.

I live across the street from the house where this incident occurred and let's just say that all of us in the immediate neighborhood are freaked out by what has happened.

The kids living in the house (all renters) have packed up and left. They told me that the landlord is unwilling to change the locks to the place. Can you believe that?

One positive to come out of this is that we have grown closer as a nieghoborhood. We're all looking out for each other and won't hesitate to report any suspicious activity.

We'll see how the cops handle the situation, but I'm not exactly encouraged by what I've seen and heard so far.

Hi,

Are there any descriptions? Has Carla's office been called? The mayor's office? The news? This is a whole new level of violence that I"ve never heard of before.

Sooner or later you can always count on one of these "old school" doorknobs to come out and post something silly on these blogs that has to do with crime and how it "has always been"... In case people such as @chris haven't noticed, a lot has changed in the last 14 years. Let's recap a few of things:

Edgewood, once an old lot is now a thriving shopping center
Glenwood, an old cement factory is now a wonderful place to live
You can't go a block without seeing a mother walking a baby in a stroller
The Charter School is packed
Daycare programs in and around Grant and Ormewood have 2 year waiting lists
Even the Jiffy is old news

So the point of the story is that times are a changin... Ormewood isn't the old Intown Atlanta that it was 14 years ago. There is a new crowd moving in and we expect more out of our city and the services that it is supposed to provide. And yes, we expect our city leaders to help us put the brakes on the crime.

Maybe it's time for some of the old guard to get with the new program and start expecting more from where you live. There is a whole new generation of people that have moved in, and just because people such as Chris get a jolt out of posting past crime statistics doesn't mean the new folks are going to live with it.

I have good friends who lived on Estoria from the late 80's through the late 90's, long before the cotton mill was converted into lofts. Back then, much of Atlanta's appearance was far grittier than it is now, but I still felt fairly safe riding my bike through Cabbagetown and around the abandoned cotton mill, even late at night, so I was surprised to hear that this type of crime had occurred there.

@Kirkwood Resident:
"...make sure your bullets are at least the type that will stop if they hit bone or wood...." You mean hollow-points right?

@ OP Res.: you really are a meathead. A poster titled "Jason" mentioned 14 yrs., not previous poster "chris," nor me- who has criticized your posts in the past, but hadn't posted in this thread.

That's nice that you and other yuppies, "... expect our city leaders to help us put the brakes on the crime," few of you do anything whatsoever besides whine. You don't volunteer, you don't pay for the private security patrols, you don't look out for your neighbors, and you certainly don't have the gonads to confront those obviously up to no good.

We of the "old guard" started and built neighborhood org.'s, the charters, the security patrols; elected what responsible politicians we have (and Carla Smith's district does not include Cabbagetown, where this crime occurred); and pushed for the good developments that have been built (and Edgewood was not an "old lot": it was Atlanta Gas's main service facility).

"...past crime statistics doesn't mean the new folks are going to live with it." Really? What are you going to do? Hide some more in your house? Post some more on the Patch? Wow, what a force. Jackasses and bureaucrats are shaking in their shoes.

And as usual, an Ormewood nut comes out and bashes other residents who are just concerned about crime. We are doing something. We are taking over the neighborhood and trying to get rid of the folks that are happy with the status quo.

Let's see. A long term resident actively volunteering, participating, staying to raise a family, and leading for years communicating under his own name
or
some one posting under a pseudonym whose idea of community is ""taking over the neighborhood" to "get rid of folks" from the comfort of their keyboard and aren't even aware that Edgewood is an entire historical neighborhood and just a shopping district for their convenience.
My bet's on Murphy and the others who understand what community actually is.

FYI:

10+ year residents
Active members of SAND
Children attend ANCS
Members of Trolley Patrol

I wouldn't bash your neighbors with such haste. Look around and get your mouth off of the bong. You might notice that times are changing. Maybe if the doorknobs on this blog put less time into trashing your neighbors and bickering about an old lot or the Edgewood district, you might notice that people are sincerely worried about protecting their families and have legitimate issues.

Sorry, we aren't going away. I will bet some republicans have even moved into the neighborhood. Gasp!!! As I said, the new folks expect change in old worn out policies and attitudes.

And still remaining derogatory to others under cover of pseudonyms.
Sir, your behavior bashes yourself.

As I said, the new folks expect change in old worn out policies and attitudes. Until that happens, the old guard can have it the "old way" with break-ins, car jackings, etc, but as the new moms continue to move in and continue having more kids, the mama grizzly bears will begin to roar even louder...

Don't feed the troll, Earl.

Chris Murphy is making a complete mockery of a serious incident to once again advance his own agenda of bullying and intimidation. I don't see how concern for a terrible crime has turned so ugly against a family just trying to look after and protect the families of Ormewood Park. This person obviously doesn't really care for our neighborhood. Hopefully people like him will move on eventually. Old worn out attitudes are not acceptable in Grant Park or Ormewood Park anymore.

Troll.