This gang situation is scary and totally out of control.
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http://www.insidebayarea.com/timesstar/ci_4088092

Family gathering turns deadly; father shot by gang
By Kristin Bender and Harry Harris - STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
Article Last Updated:03/01/2007 11:00:49 AM PST

OAKLAND — A family gathering early Saturday in East Oakland turned tragic when gang members opened fire on what they may have believed to be a rival gang, leaving a father of two small children dead and two others wounded, police said.
Police said family members were standing outside a home on the 2300 block of 100th Avenue, not far from the Oakland Zoo, about 12:30 a.m. Saturday when a man in a car pulled up to the curb and began flashing "gang signs."

The relatives, not knowing what the signs meant nor what was going on, continued talking and the car fled.

A few minutes later, the car returned and a man inside open fired, killing Marco Moreno, 22, who lived in the house with his family. Moreno was taken to the trauma center at Highland Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:16 a.m. Saturday.

"They were just trying to (have a family gathering) and people come by and shoot at them for absolutely no reason," Sgt. Tony Jones said. "The senseless mentality of gang members has claimed another innocent life. What started as a fun night ended in a tragedy that will be with these people for the rest of their lives."

In Oakland, the Nortenos, Sorenos and the Border Brothers are rival Latino gangs that have been partially responsible for the spike in homicides this year. Police say at least one-quarter of this year's homicides are tied to gangs.

A relative said Saturday that Moreno was not involved in gangs. He emigrated from Mexico seven years ago to work in his family's painting business, was married and had two children, ages 3 years and 2 months.

Also wounded was a 15-year-old West Oakland boy and a

19-year-old man. The boy was in critical condition and the man, who was shot in the arm, was in stable condition Saturday. Both are expected to recover, police said.

Several other relatives, including several small children, narrowly escaped being hit by the gunfire, a relative of the victim said Saturday.

The family gathering, a Friday night tradition at the victims' mother's home, had been going on for a few hours without any problems until the shooting, police said.

Police believe the shooting was likely a case of mistaken identity. No arrests had been made by Saturday afternoon.

The killing brought the homicide tally for the year to 76, compared to 40 at this time last year. The rising homicide rate has caught the attention of some powerful leaders. Last week, state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, called a closed-door meeting with

40 leaders in law enforcement, local government and community-based organizations. Perata wants to draw up a "to do list" to fight inner-city crime and violence.

Perata said he hopes to have the list completed by early this week, but talked about such innovative things as hiring ex-cons to mentor troubled youth and directing the state legislature to lift restrictions on funding success youth violence prevention programs.

Chief Wayne Tucker was at the meeting and discussed the impending launch of "Operation Ceasefire," a program modeled after an anti-gun initiative in Boston that focuses on coordinating with state, federal and local agencies to curb crime and violence.

In Saturday's killing, police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $25,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the killer. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 238-3821 or Crime Stoppers at 238-6946.