For most of us, the senseless tragedies that seem to have been so commonplace in our communities are something that happens “over there,” or on the “other side of town.”

But for residents who live near the violence, the problems are quite real and quite deadly.

One man in Natchez sees the violence first-hand, Adams County Coroner James Lee.

“I am just at a loss of words,” Lee said Monday of the murder of one Natchez man and the shooting of a pregnant woman. “It was so horrifying.”

Yet the scenes play out again and again. Sadly, this one draws more attention because the woman victim happened to be pregnant.

Police suggest the shooting was the result of a drug deal that may have turned into a robbery.

Had the shooters and the victims simply been young black males, few people would have so much as batted and eye.

We’ve all — white, black, young and old — become insensitive to the violence that seems increasingly prevalent these days.

That reality is truly disturbing as it indicates the culture of drugs and violence has a strong foothold in our community.

Such a culture has a mixed up value system, one in which street respect and the mighty dollar have more value than human life.

The lure of easy money and a purpose in a life that might otherwise not have one is simply too much of a draw.

The violence must stop or our community will continue the moral slope downward. Our current destination isn’t a pretty one.

We desperately need our law enforcement agencies, court system and the public to say, “enough,” and begin insisting that we have a zero tolerance policy on senseless violence and put an end to it before another young life is cut short.