LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A 12-year-old boy was shot early Monday in Louisville’s Portland neighborhood, marking the latest violent incident in an area plagued by gunfire.
The shooting occurred around 3:45 a.m. on Bank Street, just a block away from where Jessica Hyatt has lived for the past year. Hyatt, like many of her neighbors, is fed up with the constant gun violence.
“I heard about four or five shots go off,” said Hyatt. “It’s once or twice a week.”
The young boy shot is expected to survive, according to police. However, the shooting is yet another example of the dangerous conditions that have Hyatt ready to leave Portland altogether.
“It’s just not a good neighborhood to live in,” she explained. “I’m up all throughout the night hearing gunshots go off.”
At 27 years old, Hyatt is thinking about starting a family, but she can’t imagine raising children in an area where gunfire is so frequent.
“I don’t want my family to be living in a neighborhood where I have to worry about gunshots going off every night,” she said.
The latest shooting is not the first Hyatt has experienced nearby. Last summer, Louisville Metro Police said a young man was killed after being shot multiple times in broad daylight, just as Hyatt was preparing to walk her dogs. Hyatt said she has great neighbors, but the crime is simply too much to endure.
“It’s not a good neighborhood for us to be living in,” she said.
The Portland neighborhood has been the site of several violent crimes over the past year. In separate incidents, three other people were killed in that same area in 2024 alone.
Residents, frustrated and fearful, have been calling for change. Last July, Sheila, another Portland neighbor, demanded immediate action.
“Everywhere you look, someone’s being shot,” she said. “This has got to stop. Something’s got to be done. How many more kids are we gonna lose before this gets handled?”
As Louisville grapples with ongoing violent crime, neighbors like Hyatt are forced to choose between staying in the community they love or seeking safety elsewhere. For now, Hyatt’s decision is clear.
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