The unraveling of civility. The usual excuse "the kids have nothing to do" is fraud. There is plenty to do. If they could read there are libraries. They choose to be evil.

Group of teens terrorizing Cooper-Young neighborhood

Monday, April 18th 2016, 7:03 pm PDTMonday, April 18th 2016, 8:36 pm PDT

By Janice Broach

 

(Source: WMC Action News 5)

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) -

Residents of Cooper-Young described a marauding group of young people that are terrorizing the neighborhood. Most residents did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation.

“The back of my truck was open, because I was getting things in and out of it, and I caught them just digging through it, looking for something valuable potentially,” Cooper-Young resident Kyle Howard said.

"My husband caught some of them in our backyard and he chased them out,” another resident said. “They ran down the street and they were yelling very ugly, ugly things."

That woman said they even threatened on another day to shoot her dog Lucy when she barked at them.

“They range in age from about 8 years old to 14."

One man said they travel in groups of five or six girls and boys, most from the neighborhood.

"They're terrorizing people. They're threatening people. They're vandalizing properties. They key cars when they walk by."

Some of the marauders broke into a Hot Mess Burrito food truck on Sunday. Police were called.

13-year-old Virgina Houston said it's all true. She said she was once friends with the one she calls the ringleader.

"She has a bunch of kids following her,” Houston said. “She's like the queen of the group. She steals, she threatens people."

Another teenager said her brother was part of the group and is now in juvenile court along with the so-called queen.

"It's really sad to see kids gravitate toward a life of crime so early,” Howard said.

Houston said she is starting a group to help the young people stay away from violence. Neighbors said they figure the young people don’t have any activities to keep them out of trouble.