After two shootings in as many days, Vickie Crutchfield has decided not to move out of the low-income housing complex where she’s raising her 5-year-old.

Oak Ridge Apartments are home, “a family among families,” as many of the 100 or so residents in the Midtown complex call it.

Some have lived there as long as 30 years. Most are single parents. They blame the violence on so-called out-of-towners.

Police said the victim and alleged shooters in the Saturday night shooting are from the Kansas City area. However, the suspect arrested in a separate shooting on Friday near Oak Ridge was a St. Joseph man, with an address at Brittany Village Apartments.

Ms. Crutchfield, one of the many single mothers in the complex, is concerned every day about raising her daughter there.

“But you have to have faith. Bullets don’t have names,” she said.

Management at Oak Ridge, a Section 8 housing complex, say there has been no influx of residents wanting to leave.

“A lot of these people have grown up in this area. Most have family and friends that live around here,” said Jean Thuman, property manager.

The violence at Oak Ridge comes at a time when violent crime in St. Joseph is on the rise and property crimes are down.

In the first four months of 2008, aggravated assaults have increased from 37 in 2007 to 67 this year. In April alone, assaults tripled from nine last year to 21.

Police said the changes, especially in assaults, are unusual. Assaults generally happen in households, and a lot of times gang or drug activity is a factor, said Capt. Kevin Castle, a St. Joseph Police Department spokesman.

Thefts, meanwhile, are down 20 percent in the first four months, from 916 in 2007 to 729 this year.

Ahmad Safi can be reached at ahmadsafi@npgco.com.