The You Shoot Me, I'll Shoot You Back . . . Later, Mindset

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I get upset anytime I read of children being the innocent victim of violence. Drive by shootings happens daily across this country. Durham, NC is no exception and that was proven in a harsh and violent way recently.


On the afternoon of Oct 23 Troy Lee Howard and two children 1-year-old Au-Nestii Hagans and 3-year-old Anaryiion Hagan were struck by bullets in a shooting on Driver Street. The children were inside their home and Howard was outside at a neighbor’s home. When police arrived they were told '3 masked men' drove up in a car and began shooting. However, at that time the police did not know if Howard was the intended victim or not.

Apparently a few days earlier on Oct 17, Tavarez Brown of Spruce Street was on Fern Street when he was the target of a shooting. Allegedly the shooting was perpetrated by John Tarver. So Brown decided you shoot me, I'll shoot you back. Later. So, on the Oct 23rd Tavarex Brown allegedly gathered his buddies, Jaunarais King and Arthur Clendenning and drove over to Driver Street and began shooting at John Tarver. The bullets missed Tarver but did hit the 2 children who were inside their nearby home. John Tarver shot back but his bullet struck Troy Lee Howard instead of his intended victims.

Residents of the neighborhood complained that shootings were becoming commonplace yet noone would give names of anyone who could have been involved. When police made a public plea -Help us help you - they received tips of possible shooters’ names.

Now, after the arrest of the alleged shooters, it seems a cousin of the victim Troy Howard says Arthur Clendenning was not a part of the foray of the 23rd. Allegedly Clendenning was at a home across the street from the Hangan's house. Even mom of the children. Dominique Hagans, says he couldn't have been one of the 3 shooters in the car because he was with her sister across the street and was the one who called to report the shooting. (Okay fine, but was he involved any way in some other manner such as contacting Brown and advising Tarver was outside his home?) I'd like to know how long he had been at Chandria Myers home. Had he arrived at the time the shootings happened or was there already? He could've been in the car, exited, then hotfooted it over to Myers home to make himself a part of an after the fact reaction and not the shooting action. Remember folks LE was told the day of the incident there were 3 Masked Men in the car - So if it wasn't Clendenning in the car, who else was involved?

The sad fact of all this is, all four of the accused have previous convictions on drug charges and Arthur Clendenning, Tavarez Brown and Jaunarais King also have convictions for carrying a concealed weapon. Brown was convicted of a couple assault charges previously. He was on probation. John Tarver was also on probation. Had all four still been in jail perhaps these children and Mr. Howard would not have been shot.

Even sadder is that two small babies were victims’ of others violent lifestyles. I am glad Mrs. Hagans is moving her children away from that street. They need to move forward and not be afraid in their home. I 100% agree with her comment as stateed in http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10294259/
- "People just need to sit down and think about their actions sometimes. They actually don't affect (just) themselves. They affect other people (and) other people's families and children."

I'm also glad tips came in to police. I hope each of those involved goes to prison and serves a long full sentencing term without parole and is not given a short term sentence then probation. It's time to stop the violence in that neighborhood. Apparently two previous shootings occurred there over last 6 months when the victims were sitting on their porches. The residents need to move past this, whether Clendennings is an innocent bystander of the incident where Howard and the children were shot or not. He has a violent past so let him deal with his own legal problems and take back your streets! Gather neighbors and friends and make a pack to involve police with cleaning up the neighborhood of violent offenders. Keep the tips coming. Make it known, If you come on our street, to our neighborhood with your weapons and intent to harm, we'll turn you over to police - Then you are on your own. If the people believe Clendenning wasn't one of the shooters and knows who the alleged 3rd person in the car was, they need to call LE and advise them. After all, the police can't read minds. Let the cops do their job.