After two violent crimes in less than a week, some North Park residents are concerned about an element of danger festering in their area, despite the neighborhood’s efforts to shed what some call a sketchy past.
Resident Kyle Stewart told NBC 7 he generally enjoys North Park’s renaissance of sorts.
“So it’s really surprising to have this underlying element of violence – whether it’s gang-related or random – taking place in the community,” Stewart said.
Violence like two shootings in the past week hit too close to home for Marilyn King, who was down the street when a 62-year-old woman was shot in the back of her shoulder during an attempted robbery.
The incident happened in King’s alley parking lot.
“The other day I was coming home and there was a bunch of police cars over there, so I would think it’s getting worse,” King said.
On Monday, two people were injured in a drive-by shooting near University Avenue and Villa Terrace.
At this time, San Diego Police were not able to provide a year over year crime statistic comparison for North Park, but according to their crime mapper, there have been 46 robberies and assaults within a mile radius of Thursday’s violent attempted robbery.
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Ray Lopez, who lives in a complex near where the woman was shot, said his home has been burglarized twice in the past six months.
Still, he’s trying to keep the recent crimes in perspective.
“It upset me. I’m not scared or anything, but it could have been one of us,” Lopez said.
Despite this rash of crime, those who spoke with NBC 7 said they still feel comfortable walking the streets of North Park either during the day or at night, and you’ll find no shortage of restaurant-goers and bar-goers every weekend.
