Little Village residents: Gangs a part of everyday life
'ALWAYS SOME VIOLENCE'

May 1, 2008Recommend (3)

BY STEFANO ESPOSITO AND KARA SPAK Staff Reporters
At the corner of 30th and Kildare in the Little Village neighborhood, not even God can get a break.

On the exterior walls of the tiny Liberty Center church, printed messages of hope share space with scribbled gang put-downs and challenges.

» Click to enlarge image A group of women and children duck under police tape on their way to school in the 2800 block of South Kildare, where three people were found shot to death Wednesday morning.
(Brian Jackson/Sun-Times)

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Some residents of this neighborhood -- where three people were found shot to death in an apartment Wednesday -- say there's simply no escape from gang influence in their daily lives.

"There's always some violence here," said resident Jessica Saldana, 22, who has three young children. "Things happen every day. I'm very concerned about my kids."

Last year, a 16-year-old boy was killed and another teenager was left paralyzed in a gang drive-by shooting outside the Liberty Center.

The gang feud continued on the church sidewalk, with one gang kicking over the memorial candles set up by another gang, a local pastor said.

Gang enrollment often isn't optional, some residents say.

"Many of them are very good kids," said Marco Mercado, pastor of the nearby Good Shepherd Catholic Church. "Unfortunately, they're just making the wrong decisions. There's a lot of pressure. We have to face it -- as somebody said, it's safer to be in the gangs than not being there."

Jose Luis Lopez, who owns a corner grocery store and laundry, said he has lived in Little Village for 32 years and that he resents the way the neighborhood is often portrayed by the media.

"I've been here so long -- all these kids respect me," Lopez said. "You look at the [store]. It doesn't have any gang slogans."

Others say the neighborhood can appear deceptively calm.

"This neighborhood is kind of funny," said one local pastor who didn't want to use his name. "Because it looks like it's clean and quiet, but it isn't. It's all behind doors."

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