Residents React to Three Shootings Over Violent Weekend
By: Jeremy Deebel
Updated: November 12, 2012
Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County-- Three shootings around the Wilkes-Barre area-- one of them deadly-- have people shaken and wondering what can be done.
Friday night, Saturday morning, and Sunday evening-- three episodes of gunfire in and around the Diamond City, with only one arrest so far, have neighbors scratching their heads and searching for answers.
It began just before 8:00 Friday night, near the Red Roof Inn along Route 309 in Plains, just outside of Wilkes-Barre.
Police responding to a reported vehicle crash found 27-year-old Leslie Smith's body riddled with bullets, slumped over dead in the driver's seat.
John Hamilton, of Wilkes-Barre, lamented, "That's why people don't like to listen to the news, because there's so much violence in the world. And there's nothing we can do about it. The population is bad, people don't have jobs."
The search for Smith's killer continues.
After that, shortly before 2:00 Saturday morning-- three people were injured during a shooting inside Mulligan's Bar on Main Street in the city.
One man has been arrested and detained as a suspect in that case.
Dale Dorsi, of Wilkes-Barre, noted, "You never know what'll happen. I could walk in somewhere and somebody could shoot me for no reason. It's scary."
Finally, Sunday evening, another man suffered non-life-threatening injuries after being shot in the hand and leg near the Sherman Hills apartment complex, just off Coal Street.
The victim is not cooperating with investigators, and no one has been arrested.
People tell us the city has changed in recent years, and they believe drugs are the main culprit.
One woman, who asked not to be identified, said, "They're coming from Philly, they're coming from New York. And once they know where a place is-- it's like you leave a drop of sugar, and all the ants come."
But Hamilton-- now a Jehovah's Witness-- says things can get better.
He added, "I was in a gang, I was a gang member when I was coming up. Things changed for me."
Anyone with information on any of the violent episodes in and around Wilkes-Barre this weekend should call police.
