YOUTH VIOLENCE

Children’s Hospital under threat

01-05-2009 | LUIS GONZALEZ, DARMA ZAMBRANA

Nurses and doctors fear underage gang members who come into the hospital along with their families issuing threats

Panama Star PANAMA. Delinquency and the violence cases that include children have become unfathomable. People are no longer safe in their homes, in their work places, and now not even in the country’s hospitals.

Amidst the rise in crime and the injuries these bring as a consequence, at the Children’s Hospital (Hospital del Niño), the doctors, nurses, administrative workers and even the security officers fear for their lives, seeing as it is common for hurt underage gang members who come into the hospital along with their families to issue threats.

According to the head of the Emergency Room, Carlos Rodriguez, the biggest problem that they face are “the dangerous minors. They come in insulting nurses and doctors; they are violent, and we don’t have either the appropriate rooms nor the adequate security measures to control them,” he said.

Since the beginning of the year, the hospital has seen at least two of these dangerous cases and last December they saw at least 20.

Rodriguez denounced that these youngsters “arrive with an army of people, who come into the Emergency Room without showing respect for the other patients. In the end they don’t pay anything because of their socioeconomic status.”

OUT OF CONTROL

Crimes committed by minors increase by the day. The National Police force maintained throughout Saturday a strong operative in Veranillo to try and catch those responsible for shooting the wife of sub-lieutenant Javier Rios. Karina Samaniego was shot in front of her two daughters, ages 9 and 12. Two bullets hit her in the abdomen, and one slid passed her arm.

The delinquents broke into the house, asking for drugs they didn’t find. Later on, a car believed to have been used to flee was found in a nearby location. Several suspects were detained and are under investigation.

A preliminary report informs that the responsible might be youngsters belonging to a San Miguelito gang that either got houses confused or were set up.

But this is not the only case involving minors. In Hato Pintado, three minors were caught stealing a house.

Additionally, in Vista Alegre, Arraijan, security officers confronted a gang that was trying to make an assault. Those involved, including at least one minor, were later detained with the help of the police.