Yet another young person has been killed in yet another horrible tragedy in our community.

The headlines are all too familiar lately.

From senseless car accidents with unrestrained drivers to the latest fatal shooting in Ferriday, too many of our youth are meeting a violent end.

It’s troubling and worrisome.

Is life not precious enough to spend a couple of seconds to buckle one’s seat belt?

But at least in those cases the ones who are hurt are usually the ones who made the initial mistake by not buckling up or by driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

But Saturday’s gangland-style shooting of a 25-year-old Ferriday man isn’t the work of a careless youth or what someone might call an honest mistake.

By all accounts, the shooting was a calculated, premeditated act of cold-blooded murder.

Multiple shots to Reginald Green’s face, head and torso left a gruesome scene for investigators.

We did not know Reginald Green, but we’re certain that he didn’t deserve to be gunned down on the streets of Ferriday.

On Easter Sunday, shortly after investigators made two arrests in the case and a Ferriday family grieved, we asked ourselves, “When will the madness stop?

Then we realized the answer: It won’t stop until our society stops glorifying the criminal lifestyle in films, music and on our streets and starts raising children to respect the lives and property of others.