http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01031.html

Police Ask for Tips in Triple Slaying

By Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 4, 2006; B05


Prince George's County police appealed to the public yesterday for assistance in identifying the attackers -- thought to be members of a violent Latino street gang -- who gunned down four men in Adelphi about midnight Friday, killing three of them.

A police spokeswoman said cooperation from the public will be crucial in hunting down the killers.

"The first big break in this case will come from a witness or witnesses who come forward and tell us what they saw, what they might have heard, what they may be hearing as rumor," Cpl. Debbie Carlson said.

Police said the attack involved five or six assailants. The attackers yelled out the name of the gang Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, as they opened fire, according to two police sources.

Relatives said the three slain men were not gang members, and police confirmed they have no evidence that any of the victims were affiliated with a gang.

The fourth victim was hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening, police said. He has not been identified.

The attack occurred at the entrance to a red-brick apartment complex in a working-class, heavily Latino neighborhood.

By late yesterday, police had not made any arrests or identified any suspects. A law enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is open, said yesterday that investigators are exploring a number of potential motives. They include the possibility of a dispute over a woman or an attempt by MS-13 members to shake down residents of the complex.

Police investigators will sift through any information that comes in to determine which leads are promising, Carlson said.

"To solve this case, it's going to be vital for us to get that one phone call," Carlson said. "It's wide open right now. It could have been a robbery gone bad. We'll take any tip we can get."

Carlson said anyone who has information can call homicide detectives at 301-772-4925 or a tip line at 866-698-7424. Police will accommodate potential witnesses who speak Spanish, she said.

Yesterday, a flier in Spanish was taped to the front door of the apartment complex in the 1900 block of Erie Street where the attack occurred. The flier made no specific reference to the triple slaying. It said anyone who provided information that led to the arrest and conviction of a suspect or suspects in a homicide or other violent crimes could be eligible for a reward of as much as $25,000, offered by county police.

Carlson said such offers are made in all homicides and other violent crimes in the county.

The three men who died were: Ruben Dominguez, 19, of Silver Spring; Jesse Salvador, 20, of Hyattsville; and Juan Fredy Rosales-Mendes, 29, of the District.

Dominguez, who emigrated from Mexico with his family, worked full time as a driver for a painting company in Gaithersburg, his father said. He and Salvador, whose parents are from Honduras and El Salvador, attended Montgomery Blair High School.

Rosales-Mendes, a construction worker, emigrated from Guatemala 10 years ago. He shared an apartment with his partner, Alva Marchante, and their two young children.

Law enforcement officials in the Washington region, primarily in suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia, have attributed dozens of homicides and scores of other violent crimes to MS-13 in recent years.

Federal authorities have charged 22 alleged MS-13 members in a racketeering indictment that accused gang members of six murders and four attempted murders, all but one in Prince George's.

Last month, one defendant pleaded guilty to racketeering, admitting that he burned evidence from a homicide scene. Several others are set to go on trial in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt in September.

Staff writer Eric Rich contributed to this report.