KWTX Reports Alarming Juvenile Crime Statistics in Temple

Our news partner, KWTX-TV, has reported alarming statistics concerning juvenile crime in Temple over the past year.

According to their report, 112 children between the ages of 10 and 16 were arrested in Temple last year. 14 have already been arrested in 2017.

KWTX's piece came two days after a Temple woman shot a 15-year-old boy she caught trying to steal a purse from her car. Police are still searching for two other young suspects who were reportedly with the boy and fled the scene.

On Sunday, January 29, three juvenile suspects whose identities have not been released set fire to a playground at Jefferson Neighborhood Park on Monticello Drive. The fire destroyed the equipment, which was installed less than two years ago at a cost of $147,000.

In June of 2016, two young suspects were referred to juvenile probation after allegedly setting fire to a playground at James Wilson Park on Curtis B. Elliot Drive. That playground was also a total loss.

KWTX reported that one of the boys involved in the James Wilson Park fire was also implicated, along with four others, in vandalism at the abandoned Emerson school building at 1400 E. Ave. B, which caused over $1 million in damages.