Thread: MS-13 Blamed in 3 Prince George's Slayings

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01077.html

MS-13 Blamed in 3 Pr. George's Slayings

By Eric Rich and Ernesto Londo?o
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, July 2, 2006; A01


Assailants thought to belong to a Latino street gang fatally shot three men and wounded a fourth in the entryway of a Prince George's County apartment complex, police said yesterday, shattering the relative calm that followed gang-fueled bloodshed in the region last summer.

Witnesses said the gunmen yelled out the name of the gang Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, as they opened fire in the Adelphi area about midnight Friday, according to two police sources. Two other sources, also speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is in its early stages, confirmed that police believe that MS-13 was behind the attack.

There were five or six assailants, police said, and all remained at large late yesterday.

Several police sources said there was no immediate indication that the victims -- the men killed were 19, 20 and 29, and the survivor is 21 -- were affiliated with gangs. Two of the men died at the scene, and two were taken to a hospital, where one died.

Police did not release the names of the victims. Two of the dead were from Montgomery County and one was from Virginia, police said. The survivor, who had been stabbed or shot and had injuries that were not life-threatening, is from Prince George's.

Yesterday afternoon, two janitors scrubbed blood from the tiles of the small foyer of 1901 Erie St., a three-story red-brick building. A young man stood on the steps outside and cried softly.

"No se puede decir nada," the man said when asked about the shooting, meaning it would be unwise to say anything.

According to two police sources, investigators are developing two theories of the shooting's motive: that it erupted from a dispute over a woman or that it was connected to a possible scheme by MS-13 to extort money from residents of the complex.

The slayings marked a return of the bloodshed that shook the Langley Park area last summer but that had recently abated. Two men died in a parking lot there early in August when their throats were slit. Before the month was over, a teenage girl had suffered a knife wound to the neck during a back-to-school concert, and a man had died after being beaten and cut by bottle fragments.

Although MS-13 members have continually been blamed for routine crime in the area, the attack marked a return of the sensational violence associated with the gang, an organization established by Salvadoran immigrants in Los Angeles in the 1980s. The group's reach has since extended to this region, initially to Northern Virginia and more recently to Prince George's and Montgomery.

On Aug. 5, six Montgomery youths were stabbed in gang-related attacks: two at Springbrook High School and four at a Target store in Wheaton. The slayings in the Adelphi area occurred about one block from a cemetery where, in October 2004, a shooting linked to MS-13 left one teenage girl dead and another wounded.

Luis Hurtado, a Montgomery police officer, said he received information from a source in the community late last week indicating that MS-13 was planning "something big" for the extended holiday weekend. Hurtado said that he passed that information along to the department's gang task force and other officials but that the tip was not detailed enough for police to preempt an attack by the gang.

"I told everyone I could," he said. "But we didn't have anything specific."

Before Friday, neither Adelphi nor Langley Park had been the scene of a homicides this year, despite being hubs of gang activity. Homicides in the area have fallen sharply, from 53 for all of last year to 14 so far this year.

"We've enjoyed a good 2006 in Langley Park and Adelphi," said Maj. Kevin Davis, the District 1 commander. "We don't want this incident to spark more violence. We really need to solve this ASAP."

Davis attributed the drop in homicides to focused police work and community involvement. He said he has deployed an additional six to 10 officers to patrol Langley Park from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily, and he credited the work of the anti-gang task force. "The community is used to seeing those guys around," Davis said.

At the garden-style apartment complex where the crime occurred, neighbors said they often saw men sitting on the steps outside, drinking beer and laughing. Many acknowledged rampant gang activity in the area but would not speak publicly about it for fear of reprisal.

"There's always been a bit of violence" in the area, said Sujey Flores, 21, who was selling mangoes with her 11- and 13-year-old siblings in a shaded area around the corner. But she said she was not aware of any previous killings.

Prince George's police Lt. John S. Decker, who has patrolled the area for more than three decades, said officers are keeping a close watch on the neighborhood because of the homicides. Officers have made inroads in the Adelphi area in recent years, he said, reaching out to its population, which is made up of mostly recent Hispanic and African immigrants.

"People hang out here at all hours of the night," he said. "Unfortunately, alcohol consumption is rampant."

Decker said recent high-profile prosecutions of Central American gang members have made the gangs adopt a lower profile.

"These guys know they're under the microscope," said Decker, who is not directly involved in the latest homicide investigations. "They don't wear their affiliation colors like they use to. Some are trying to reestablish themselves elsewhere."

In August, federal authorities rounded up 19 suspects -- and three more in April -- in a racketeering indictment that accused gang members of six murders and four attempted murders, all but one in Prince George's.

Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said the indictment was just one step in addressing the problem. "When you're dealing with an organization that has national and international ties, you can't expect to defeat it overnight," he said.

Prince George's State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D) said: "I think the indictment slowed it down for a couple of months, but I don't want to make it sound like it put MS-13 out of business, because I don't believe that's the case."

Victor Israel Rios, who lives in the building next to where the three killings happened, said his mother-in-law was robbed at gunpoint a week earlier. He said he and his wife tend to stay indoors after dark because of the young men who loiter and often drink in public late into the night. The couple heard the gunshots Friday night -- seven, maybe eight, he said. The sirens followed.

Lilian Gazi, 17, another neighbor, said the rowdy men who are often seen near the building where the slayings occurred make her feel uncomfortable. They sometimes hiss when she walks by.

"It's not safe here," she said.

Staff writers Philip Rucker and Allison Klein contributed to this report.

Originally Posted by Brian503a

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/01/AR2006070101077.html

MS-13 Blamed in 3 Pr. George's Slayings

"People hang out here at all hours of the night," he said. "Unfortunately, alcohol consumption is rampant."

Lilian Gazi, 17, another neighbor, said the rowdy men who are often seen near the building where the slayings occurred make her feel uncomfortable. They sometimes hiss when she walks by.

"It's not safe here," she said.

Another example why local governments all across the country need to get off their ass'es and start enforcing immigration law. Let these loosers fight over women in their own damn country.
Some of these people are of ZERO value to our country or any other country. THEY NEED TO BE TARGETED!!!

Ms-13 is a huge problem in Maryland and Virginia and both areas are PC and they don't want to upset the "hispanic" population.

Originally Posted by steelerbabe

Ms-13 is a huge problem in Maryland and Virginia and both areas are PC and they don't want to upset the "hispanic" population.

Political correctness is almost as big a problem as illegals being here!

It's ruining everything! It is being used to silence freedom of speech!
I'm sick of it.

These areas will never get rid of these gangs if they are constantly afraid of "offending" someone!

Originally Posted by steelerbabe

Ms-13 is a huge problem in Maryland and Virginia and both areas are PC and they don't want to upset the "hispanic" population.

We need a 'shake down' of the entire hispanic population. Weed out the illegal from the legal. Leave the legal be-deport the illegal-secure the southern border.

I obviously hold a minority opinion here. But I see little difference in the "legals" who either outright support this crap or willingly want to look the other way. Just like anything else there are always exceptions but overwhelmingly most Hispanics(Latino's) are aligned with this crap. IOW they are completely for La Raza. Yet we try to make some sort of distinction as if being "legal" really makes a difference. I say legal smeagle where does there true alliance lie? Talk about PC...

Altura, There is absolutely nothing that can be done about the ones that are legal. But the illegal ones should be deported. We definately do not need another 20 million legal bean pickers.

http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0706/341181.html

Triple Slaying May be Gang Related
Sunday July 02, 2006 12:25pm


Alephi, MD (AP) - Prince George's police are investigating the possibility that an incident that left three men dead and a fourth wounded in Adelphi Friday night may have been gang related.

Three men were shot and killed just before midnight Saturday. A fourth man who was stabbed or shot remains hospitalized.

The Washington Post reports that witnesses who live in the building in the 1900 block of Erie Street, said they heard the gunmen shout out "Mara Salvatrucha," that is the formal name of the Salvadoran street gang also known as MS-13.

Police are reportedly looking for five or six assailants. They also say that there is no immediate indication that the victims were gang members.

Two of the men who were killed were residents of Montgomery County (website - news) and a third was from Virginia. The survivor lives in Prince George's County.

added to homepage

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... e&sid=1325

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00845.html

Relatives, Friends Remember Goals Of Slaying Victims

By Sudarsan Raghavan and Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, July 3, 2006; B01


His son was shot to death, and now Ruben Dominguez, tears filling his eyes, was struggling with a question he never thought he would have to answer: Where to bury his son?

"We can't leave him here if we leave and go back to Mexico one day," said Dominguez, 49, his voice disappearing as he stood outside a red-brick apartment complex in Silver Spring yesterday.

"We can't send him to Mexico if we stay here."

Late Friday night, his 19-year-old son, also named Ruben, and two other young men were fatally shot at a Prince George's County apartment complex, the latest victims, police say, of the violent gang Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13. Police said yesterday that there was no indication that the three, and another man who was wounded, were affiliated with gangs.

Relatives and friends described the victims as hardworking immigrants who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Besides Ruben Dominguez of Silver Spring, police yesterday identified the other slain victims as Jesse Salvador, 20, of Hyattsville and Juan Fredy Rosales-Mendes, 29, of the District. The fourth man, who was not identified, is hospitalized with injuries not considered life-threatening, police said. Their assailants, as many as five or six, remained at large late yesterday.

"We're just hoping that somebody will come forward and give us a break in the case," said Cpl. Clinton Copeland, a Prince George's police spokesman.

Copeland said investigators have not determined whether the victims were chosen at random or targeted. There was no immediate indication that the shooting was provoked by a disagreement, he added. Witnesses said the gunmen yelled out the name of the gang as they opened fire.

MS-13 was started by Salvadoran immigrants in Los Angeles in the 1980s. In the Washington region, the gang initially operated in Northern Virginia and more recently became active in Prince George's and Montgomery counties.

Yesterday, there was muted shock in neighborhoods with large numbers of immigrants. Some residents said they have become accustomed to violence, even as slayings abated in recent months.

"It's a part of life here," said Sister Cathy McConnell, a pastoral minister for the Hispanic community at St. Camillus Church in Silver Spring, near the Adelphi area where the killings took place.

She and her congregants, many from Langley Park, prayed for two victims, Dominguez and Salvador, during a morning service yesterday at the request of some of their friends. The ceremony, she recalled, was unemotional. "Nobody was surprised," she said.

But the families of the victims said they are stunned.

Salvador's father, from Honduras, paints houses. His mother, from El Salvador, cleans houses and works as a school janitor. But their primary job has been taking care of their children. "They worked from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening to support us," said German Salvador, 19, Jesse's brother. "They used to buy us new shoes when they came out," he added.

They also warned their children about getting involved with MS-13.

"My mother used to tell us, 'If you join them, there's no way out,' " German Salvador said. "Basically, she scared us from joining. That's why we never joined. Jesse was innocent. He had nothing to do with gangs."

Jesse Salvador had dreams of becoming a soccer player or a boxer, his brother said. As a child, he played in soccer tournaments. As an adult, he spun funny jokes that left his friends and family rolling with laughter. He attended Montgomery Blair High School and favored jerseys and Nike Jordan sneakers.

In the apartment on Fort Totten Drive in the District that Rosales-Mendes shared with his partner and two young children, family members sat somberly in front of a television.

A brother and cousin of Rosales-Mendes's would say only that they would like to bury him in his native Guatemala, where his parents and sister live.

His partner, Alva Marchante, reached by telephone, said she didn't know what happened Friday night. She said that Rosales-Mendes, whom she had been with for seven years, came to the United States 10 years ago and had worked in construction.

"He was a good father," she said. "He hoped to see his kids grow up and go to school."

Ruben Dominguez, who also attended Blair High School but did not graduate, worked as a driver for a Gaithersburg painting company and was fluent in Spanish and English, his father said. "He was a normal kid."

Outside his apartment complex yesterday, the elder Dominguez was distraught.

The family came to the United States from Mexico about eight years ago. Ruben was the middle of three children; he had an older sister and a younger brother.

On the night of the shooting, Ruben had been out with friends who were planning to go to a club, possibly to dance, his father said. Shortly after the attack, Dominguez said, one of his son's friends called to tell him of the shooting and say that Dominguez's son was one of the victims.

Dominguez said he drove to the crime scene. He tried to describe what he saw but instead wept softly.

He said yesterday that he didn't care about the police investigation.

"It won't change what's happened," he said, wiping away tears. "Nobody respects anybody," he said. "Nobody respects human life."

All he could remember was his son's hope of one day obtaining a general equivalency diploma and returning to Mexico to study business administration.

Staff writers Tara Bahrampour and Allison Klein and staff researcher Rena Kirsch contributed to this report.