Violence broke out as gangs fought for turf
By Mark Cowan
Mar 24 2009, Birmingham Mail
THE murders of teenage party-goers Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis six years ago brought into sharp focus the gang problem that had plagued the city for a decade.
The innocent girls were caught in the crossfire as members of notorious street gangs, Burger Bar Boys and the Johnson Crew, fought a deadly battle on the streets.
Investigators believe the gangs’ roots can be traced back to the 1980s when groups of young black men banded together to counter threats to their community from the Far Right. They soon evolved into criminal street gangs battling each other and Jamaican Yardies for control of the booming crack cocaine market.
The Johnson Crew’s territory was Aston and Nechells while the Burger Bar Boys claimed Handsworth, Lozells and Perry Barr.
By the late 90s, the gangs had become chaotic and the city saw a rise in gun crime and stabbings as they brazenly targeted each other in public, with shootings developing from organised hits in conflicts over the drug trade to tit-for-tat issues of “respect, revenge and revenue”.
Their street war came to a head in January 2003 when members of the Burger Bar Boys went hunting rival Johnson Crew members at a party at a hairdressers in Aston. Letisha, aged 17, and 18-year-old Charlene, were murdered in a drive-by shooting. Their murders galvanised the city into action.
Within three years the gangs were splintered as almost all of the 50 ‘Most Wanted’ members of the two gangs were behind bars with members of the Burgers jailed over the girls’ murders and members of the Johnson Crew imprisoned for the murder of doorman Ishfaq Ahmed, killed in 2004.
A raft of new measures were also introduced to mediate between the warring factions to stop the tensions from spilling over onto the streets and give gang members an option to escape their lifestyle.
While it is debatable whether the two street gangs exert the same control they once did, the influence on youngsters attracted to what they see as a glamorous lifestyle is undeniable.
Younger gangs, made up mostly of teenagers attracted by the lure of being part of a gang, emerged with names such as Slash For Money Crew and the Bang Bang Crew. A trivial row between members of those gangs led to the stabbing of Odwayne Barnes in Birmingham city centre in March 2007.
Despite a drop in shootings, the gang problem has not disappeared. Last summer police saw an increase in tensions on the streets that led to an increase in gun crime and two murders.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Police: Watsonville shootings may be linked to gang rivalry
Police: Watsonville shootings may be linked to gang rivalry
MercuryNews.com
By Jennifer Squires
Posted: 03/26/2009 01:30:02 AM PDT
WATSONVILLE -- Police are putting more officers on the street after a recent upsurge in gun violence that may be the result of Sureño gangs trying to target rival Norteño gang members.
Three gang-related shootings in less than a week have left a Hollister man dead and hospitalized two others.
Police said Wednesday they have no information indicating the shootings will continue, but they also have no reason to believe the violence will stop.
"The only commonality is that in all three occasions the suspects perceived the victims to be opposing gang members," said Lt. Darren Thompson, who added that the victims were not necessarily gang members. "We're bringing in people in uniforms to provide a little additional presence in the street."
The additional patrols started midday Wednesday and will continue through the end of the week. Also, detectives are being brought in on overtime to follow up on leads in the three shootings. No suspects have been identified in any of the shootings.
"Our best hope is going to be tracking down some of these leads that we started yesterday that we didn't have time to track down," Thompson said.
Detectives think the aggressors may be Sureños, who claim blue, because the victim in Tuesday's shooting was wearing red shoes, Thompson said. Norteños, the rival gang, claim red.
Watsonville has about 560 documented active gang members, about 70 percent of whom are Norteños, according to patrol supervisor Eric Taylor, who was the department's gang investigator until recently. There are seven or eight Norteño and two Sureño gangs that operate in the city, he said.
The most recent shooting happened in a residential neighborhood off Airport Boulevard on Tuesday afternoon. Two men in a sedan pulled alongside an 18-year-old Watsonville man walking down the street, one got out of the car and asked the teen what gang he claimed. Then the man fired four or five shots, hitting the teen several times in the torso, police reported.
Police said the teen suffered life-threatening injuries and underwent surgery at the out-of-county trauma center he was flown to Tuesday afternoon. By Wednesday, the young man's condition had improved.
"The victim's status is positive," Thompson said. "He's been listed as critical but stable, and we're hoping that he continues to recover."
The manner in which the gunmen approached the teen Tuesday was similar to the fatal shooting on a park basketball court occurred Saturday afternoon.
In that shooting, which killed Angel Gabriel Escobedo, 19 of Hollister, two men approached Escobedo and his friends at a hoops court on Green Meadow Drive and asked what gang they were in, police said. Escobedo's friends ran, but he was shot several times and died at the scene.
The third incident of gun violence happened around 2 a.m. Saturday when a 25-year-old Salinas man was shot in the leg in front of La Esperanza Market on Main Street. Neither the victim, who was caught leaving the scene, nor the apparent witnesses were cooperative with investigators, police reported.
MercuryNews.com
By Jennifer Squires
Posted: 03/26/2009 01:30:02 AM PDT
WATSONVILLE -- Police are putting more officers on the street after a recent upsurge in gun violence that may be the result of Sureño gangs trying to target rival Norteño gang members.
Three gang-related shootings in less than a week have left a Hollister man dead and hospitalized two others.
Police said Wednesday they have no information indicating the shootings will continue, but they also have no reason to believe the violence will stop.
"The only commonality is that in all three occasions the suspects perceived the victims to be opposing gang members," said Lt. Darren Thompson, who added that the victims were not necessarily gang members. "We're bringing in people in uniforms to provide a little additional presence in the street."
The additional patrols started midday Wednesday and will continue through the end of the week. Also, detectives are being brought in on overtime to follow up on leads in the three shootings. No suspects have been identified in any of the shootings.
"Our best hope is going to be tracking down some of these leads that we started yesterday that we didn't have time to track down," Thompson said.
Detectives think the aggressors may be Sureños, who claim blue, because the victim in Tuesday's shooting was wearing red shoes, Thompson said. Norteños, the rival gang, claim red.
Watsonville has about 560 documented active gang members, about 70 percent of whom are Norteños, according to patrol supervisor Eric Taylor, who was the department's gang investigator until recently. There are seven or eight Norteño and two Sureño gangs that operate in the city, he said.
The most recent shooting happened in a residential neighborhood off Airport Boulevard on Tuesday afternoon. Two men in a sedan pulled alongside an 18-year-old Watsonville man walking down the street, one got out of the car and asked the teen what gang he claimed. Then the man fired four or five shots, hitting the teen several times in the torso, police reported.
Police said the teen suffered life-threatening injuries and underwent surgery at the out-of-county trauma center he was flown to Tuesday afternoon. By Wednesday, the young man's condition had improved.
"The victim's status is positive," Thompson said. "He's been listed as critical but stable, and we're hoping that he continues to recover."
The manner in which the gunmen approached the teen Tuesday was similar to the fatal shooting on a park basketball court occurred Saturday afternoon.
In that shooting, which killed Angel Gabriel Escobedo, 19 of Hollister, two men approached Escobedo and his friends at a hoops court on Green Meadow Drive and asked what gang they were in, police said. Escobedo's friends ran, but he was shot several times and died at the scene.
The third incident of gun violence happened around 2 a.m. Saturday when a 25-year-old Salinas man was shot in the leg in front of La Esperanza Market on Main Street. Neither the victim, who was caught leaving the scene, nor the apparent witnesses were cooperative with investigators, police reported.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)