Thread: 8-year-old girl gunned down by LA gang members in courtyard

Police: 8-year-old girl gunned down by LA gang members in apartment courtyard
Associated Press

Article Launched: 07/24/2008 07:16:10 PM PDT


LOS ANGELES — Police searching for two suspected gang members who gunned down an 8-year-old girl were questioning possible witnesses and fielding calls from tipsters Thursday, police said.

The girl was fatally shot in the courtyard of a South Los Angeles apartment building Wednesday night. Police withheld her name.

There were no suspects in custody, Officer Marjan Mobasser said.

"We are getting a lot of tips from the public so hopefully that will help investigators find who the suspects are," she said.

Children were playing in the courtyard of their apartment building when two males in their late teens approached and opened fire at a nearby group of people, Mobasser said.

The girl was hit in the chest and pronounced dead at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, she said.

Capt. Dennis Kato told KTTV-TV the girl was an unintended target of the shooting, which was believed to be gang-related.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa promised a swift reaction by police.

"We are going to do everything possible to investigate this matter, to bring these individuals to justice," he said.


http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/nation ... ci_9988855

MS 13 or illegals criminals fighting in neighborhood with children playing.

National guard, police and ICE were are you

Dear Lord,
Please take this innocent into your ever loving arms.

The Italian mafias and immigrant gangs of the past never did things like this to children did they?

W

YOU SCUMBAG WORTHLESS MAYOR, HOW CAN YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT!!

I FEEL SICK!!! GOD HELP THE PEOPLE THESE POLITICAL SCUM REFUSE TO PROTECT!

GOD BLESS THIS CHILD!

We need updates on the criminals when they catch them and also about if they are illegals, anchor babies, or citizens (and no, not in my book is an anchor baby a citizen).

Lord please protect the innocent children

Hate to say this but all those kids in the court yard are on their way to being gang bangers as well and while I do not condone the killing of innocent children until these ethnocentric politicians stop thinking of votes and their "people" to remain in power, this will continue to happen. LA's mayor is a racist ass who has that girl's blood on his hands as do those who support open borders and IA and special order 40 and sanctuary cities. If people would stop thinking in terms of race and started thinking about the laws of this land and what is best for all CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY this would not be happening.

Police search for killers of girl, 8, shot in South Los Angeles


Jasmine Sanders was sitting outside with friends and family when two teenage approached the crowd and began firing, police say. 'She didn't deserve this,' her mother says.
By Ruben Vives and Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
July 25, 2008
Police are searching for two armed teenagers in connection with the fatal shooting of an 8-year-old girl in South Los Angeles.

Jasmine Sanders was shot about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday as she was playing with her younger brother and other children behind an iron gate near the stairwell of an apartment building, relatives and police said.



Jasmine Sanders Video: Girl caught in cross-fire Neighbors
Map: Eight-year-old girl shot in South Los Angeles

Her mother, Shadonna Kinney, 28, who tried to revive her daughter after she was shot, stood near the crime scene Thursday morning, beseeching the shooters to turn themselves in.

"You senseless guys, do the right thing: Come forward, come forward, come forward," Kinney said, breaking into tears. "She didn't deserve this. . . . She didn't deserve this."

The attack at East 76th and South San Pedro streets occurred as Jasmine played among a crowd of people on the front steps of the building, where she had lived with her mother and two brothers for three weeks, police and residents said. She was wearing a white shirt at the time and was clearly visible to the shooters, witnesses said.

Witnesses told police that two teenage boys approached the crowd from a nearby alley and that one of them, dressed in a white shirt and dark pants, fired a round at a group of male youths standing behind the stairs.

Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said the shooter was armed with a rifle and "fired one shot toward the group of people and hit the child in the chest."

Investigators were searching for the rifle, Officer Kate Lopez said.

Witnesses said the force of the shot pushed Jasmine back against the stairs, where her mother came down and picked her up. Kinney carried her upstairs to their apartment, where she and a neighbor applied pressure to the chest wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

Jasmine was pronounced dead at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, police said.

Capt. Dennis Kato said the shooters ran off down a nearby alley.

Lopez said the shooting was gang-related.

The corner where the attack occurred is near the LAPD's 77th Street Division station.

After the shooting, scores of police officers cordoned off the area and began searching for the assailants and interviewing witnesses.

Residents at the apartment complex say Wednesday's incident marked the fifth shooting there in the last week. They pointed out bullets from recent shootings still lodged in the gate.

Kinney said her daughter, a student at nearby 75th Street Elementary School, was focused on her studies. When she was fighting with her brothers, trying to get them to behave, she would say: "You better listen to Mama. I'm getting my education."

Jasmine's relatives urged witnesses to contact detectives.

"Somebody saw something," said Kinney's uncle, Jermain Hockless, 33.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (800) 529-3855.

ruben.vives@latimes.com

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 6041.story

A child's smile is beauty beyond belief...Jasmine has one heck of a smile!