Thread: Glassell Park-area lockdown causes chaos

Take a look at the picture at the original link to this story. This is what LA as become and the violence described here sounds similiar to Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez. Based upon comments to this story, people are fed up also.

Glassell Park-area lockdown causes chaos

A drive-by attack by the notorious Avenues gang in Glassell Park on Thursday ended in a wild shootout with police, two deaths, thousands of residents stranded, and their neighborhood left littered with shell casings.

The violence began around noon when a 37-year-old man police described as a bystander was shot more than a dozen times by suspected gang members as he held the hand of a 2-year-old girl. He later died. The toddler, apparently picked up by a passerby and carried to safety, was not wounded. As the gunmen drove off, witnesses told police, several pedestrians who apparently knew the victim opened fire on the car.

A man using an AK47 assault rifle was shot and killed. Another, armed with a semiautomatic pistol, was wounded and found hiding beneath a car. A full report on the mayhem from The Times.

Bettina Boxall has a primer on the Avenues gang's blood-soaked history.

And, this being L.A., everything eventually ties to real estate. In the words of the L.A. Land blog: Welcome to your starter neighborhood.

-- Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times

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This kind of violence has been going on for years and the mayor is doing nothing to help the community!!!!!

Posted by: Unkown | February 22, 2008 at 10:08 AM

America is far too lenient on these gangs. I don't understand why gangs were allowed to expand and take over a great city like LA. The gang problem continues to grow like a cancer without any control - why? This latest incident brings back memories of the beautiful little 3 yr. old girl killed in 1995 because her family made a wrong turn and ended up in a dead end alley, then ambushed by a bunch of low life morons in Cypress. Why weren't they shot in the head like she was - no, they're sitting in prison having free meals on us everyday, watching tv, etc. Ugh. Wake up America before it's too late.

Posted by: Lynn | February 22, 2008 at 11:01 AM

Is it just me or is it really looks like photos where taking in Mexico ?

Posted by: Readerdr | February 22, 2008 at 11:37 AM

As the article describes, this gang has many decades established in the Glassell Park/Highland Park area. The LAPD's Northeast police station is located just a few blocks away from the heart of the gang (where the shootout took place) on Drew St. The long term strategy of the LAPD in this area has been to target small-time drug dealing, where minors are mainly arrested. The gang's bosses have been spared, and they just continue to recruit youngsters, with the promise of a little money and some power.

Good informant work has to be essential to break the stranglehold that this internal terrorist outfit has on a large community. But the word of a person should not be enough. There are people in the area willing to risk their lives to bring these murderers to justice, but they need to be properly outfitted with surveillance equipment, so that the evidence gathered could stand court scrutiny. And when the gang's bosses target people they believe are informants, they should be protected, and not left to fend for themselves as the LAPD has done in this area. I believe that this strategy would be the most cost-effective tool for dealing in particular with the Avenues for once and all.

Posted by: long time highland park resident | February 22, 2008 at 12:38 PM

You would think the mayor would be doing more considering his Mt. Washington home is adjacent to Avenues gang territory

Posted by: mcfly | February 22, 2008 at 12:49 PM

This all happens because Bratton is on Villaraigoza's leash. There is your phone tax that supposedly is going to put more officers on the force. Instead of Villaraigoza's affairs with news reporters or wasting the community's funds on potholes, why not put a stop to all the violence for once and for good. We pay the city millions in property taxes for what, its ridiculous. This is what a Democrat Mayor has done for L.A. put us on a deeper hole.

I grew up in Lincoln Heights which is another community that lives in fear, no one will come forward, it's unfortunate, we all fear for our lives. LAPD has a big fear on these gangs and won't even rid of the neighborhood of gangs, no matter how much you disagree. I realize that is a HUGE task and I do appreciate the efforts of the LAPD, no one will helps us. I witness this recently around my neighborhood, it took the LAPD 40 mins to arrive at our street, and unless you are bleeding to death, unless you have an officer down, we are on our own. I admire their bravery, but the gang armies have the upper hand. Why do you think, countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, have harsh laws against gangsters, they won't allow any affilliation period, they even have vigilantes ridding of gangs, it's crazy everywhere.

Posted by: M. M. | February 22, 2008 at 12:57 PM

You can't blame the Mayor for a gang problem that has been endemic for over 50 years. Past Mayor's and Police Chiefs have failed to rid the problem completely. Besides, the Mayor and Police can only do so much. Gangs will always be a fixture so long as abject poverty, broken homes, and lack of positive role models force their way onto the future of young boys and girls stuck in ghetto's, barrios and blighted areas across the country. As per the racist comment about photo's below, imagine for a minute, that prior to European immigration here most of the residents typified dark skinned indigenous characteristics indicative of the photo you see. So this picture I see is a snapshot of the long indigenous history surviving through these living dark skinned subjects despite European mass atrocities against people of color on this Continent.

Posted by: Dave | February 22, 2008 at 01:01 PM

Yes, I agree this is begining to look like Tijuana. Gangs and police shooting out.
It's about time they send in the national guard surround the whole area and take out all gang member. If Mexico can send in the army why can't we? Are we too afraid of liberty and freedom?

Posted by: Kelvin | February 22, 2008 at 01:24 PM

Big business and the federal government allowed millions of poor, uneducated illegal immigrants to enter the country. This is the end result. Los Angeles will end up being a sprawling, third-world slum in the near future just like Guadalajara and Mexico City. Even liberals like myself can't avoid seeing the awful truth.

Posted by: JT | February 22, 2008 at 01:51 PM

It is getting crazy out here. This is not freaking South Central but it is time the city starts paying attention to the area. I just moved out to Highland park from West LA. Our street is nice, but there's always pocket of violence here and there and it seems no one cares. I have been to Cypress Park and Glassell Park plenty of times...but this is getting ridiculous.


Posted by: mike | February 22, 2008 at 03:42 PM

Mayor of LA get your ass to work. This area has been neglected long enough. We may not have the reputation of South LA or Watts, but it is time to do something. You have named the Avenues gang in your list of targeted gangs by the police.

What have you done?

Posted by: james | February 22, 2008 at 03:51 PM

Just another sad chapter in the ongoing Third Worldization of what was once a great city and state. Oops did I say Third Worldization? Surely I meant "Cultural Enrishment Through Diveristy" instead.

Posted by: MaryJ | February 23, 2008 at 08:17 AM

I've lived in the Northeast LA area my entire life (30 years) and although the violence seemed to go down for a few years, things have sure changed quickly. In this past week alone, two friends had their car broken into, one had their car stolen, and a night doesn't go by without bullets gliding over our dark terrorized skies.

In my opinion, there isn't an easy way to deal with the problem but lets be real. These criminals, whether young or old, know that their punishment just isn't something to fear. Someone posted earlier about going to jail and watching tv, and working out. Now, if it were up to me, you commit a violent crime and you get sent to the desert and be left to die. Either that or send these "tough" guys to Iraq and fight in a real war.

I know nothing like this will ever happen (sad), but the frustration with the lack of action to this nonsense is sure difficult to deal with.

Posted by: Frustrated in 90042 | February 26, 2008 at 10:27 PM

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano....html#comments

tiz only a glimpse of what is to come for the entirety of our country.




May you have the hindsight to know where you've been
the foresight to know where you're going
and the insight to know when you're going too far.
Irish quotation

Heck, I see this everyday, in my hometown of 30 years, El Cajon, Mexifornia in Sand Diego County. Drive by any school at let out time and you'd think you were watching junior Cinco De Mayo parade. Cars with Mexico license plates pick up their little Mexi-rugrats and mothers with pregnant bellies and already full triple baby strollers flood the sidewalks picking up their masses of anchor baby children. Drive by any large apartment complex and you see groups of young thuggish looking, shaved headed, tattoo covered gang banger types hanging out smoking and drinking, harrassing any unfortunate American woman or child who pass by.

I see this crap everyday, the thing is it only started getting bad when Jorge Boosh was elected and started spouting his 'it ain't amnesty' amnesty garbage. For the first 25 of my 30 years living here, my hometown was a part of the United States, but since Bush and his treasonous cronies have been in office we have been inundated by masses of Mexicans, their immense anchor babies and hordes of gang banging scumbags.

Nearly half of all billboards are now in Spanish. You barely hear English spoken at the local grocery store. Every exposed surface in the area is covered in Mexican gang banger grafitti. Cars drive around with Mexico license plates with Mexican flag license plate frames, with a Mexican flag hanging from the rear-view mirror and sporting a Calvin and Hobbes window sticker of a sombrero wearing character pissing on an outline of the U.S. or the words "La Migra" or "Gringos" and every night you go to sleep to the sounds of police sirens, Mariachi and gunshots.