CRIME WATCH : Bicycle Sam, R.I.P.

A bullet for a bike.

A 12-year-old boy, police said, figured that a .22-caliber revolver would get him a bicycle from Jung (Sam) Woo, who operated a bike shop in the Los Angeles suburb of Monrovia, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Woo, 48, who was popular with kids in the neighborhood where he had operated Bicycle Sam’s for 20 years, died of a single gunshot to the head. The youngster accused of killing him is being held on murder and robbery charges.

Children and other members of the community, in shock, visited the darkened shop over the weekend to leave flowers and cards at the locked door. Everyone wondered: Why would a child with no previous criminal record kill for a bicycle? How could a 12-year-old get hold of a pistol?

The sad truth is that gun sales have run amok, extending their deadly reach into facets of ordinary life. It is too easy for adults to get and use guns. Children learn from adults. To use a gun to get a bike is a sad commentary on how our children are mimicking adults.

But not all our children. Take Mike Martinez, 15, and his brother David, 11, who chased down a purse snatcher at the Glendale Galleria. Their bravery is winning kudos and rewards, as it should.

News of such heroism is some small palliative to the senselessness of Woo’s murder. The Korean immigrant was a trusting merchant who often fixed bikes for free and extended credit to cash-strapped families. Again, misuse of a gun has ruined the lives of innocent people.