There are crimes in Syracuse every day. Burglaries, robberies and assaults take place with some regularity. Our newsroom hears details from police or maybe witnesses. They don't all make the news. In many cases some of the most violent crimes in our city are one person with a criminal past harming another person with a criminal past. That does not make news.
What does make news is when the victim is innocent or well known or both. Tom Dotterer probably would not want all the attention that has come along with him being shot in his own liquor store. We do not know yet what happened in the store last night. We do know the former pro baseball player and baseball coach at CBA High School is in the hospital trying to recover from a gunshot wound to the eye.
Police have not arrested the men responsible, although they say they're close. People who know Tom Dotterer have come out of the woodwork wishing him well and sending him prayers. His story became even more noteworthy when we dug into the archives to find another attack on him at his liquor store. Although in that case it was the other guy who got the worst end of a firm defense of Dotterer's own person and property.
He deserves great credit for keeping a business going on Syracuse's north side neighborhood which is home to too much poverty and too many vacant buildings.
His shoooting is news. Even better news will be an announcement that he's going to be o.k. and police caught the shooters.
Any questions or comment please forward them to mattsmemo@CNYcentral.com. I may even use some of your thoughts on NBC 3 News at 5:00, the 10:00 News on CW6 or on CNYcentral.com.
The opinions expressed in this blog are the sole responsibility of the author and are not reflective of the views or opinons of the station or Barrington Broadcasting
