Gang-related killings in Compton are on the rise

Student minister Robert Muhammed, third from left, and Vicky Lindsey, founder of Project Cry No More, fourth from left, join a circle of people who pray for the victims of recent shootings in Compton. The prayer circle met where two people were shot and killed at a gas station at Caldwell Street and Wilmington Avenue.

Vicky Lindsey, founder of Project Cry No More, is frustrated with the recent shooting deaths in Compton, where she grew up.

A student walks past a memorial for shooting victim Anthony Alexander as school lets out at Robert F. Kennedy Elementary on West Caldwell Street in Compton. The shooting happened next to the school.

Jeffery Wandick, right, talks with Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Laura Lecrivain and Senior Deputy Rafer Owens at the end of a “Stop the Violence” rally in Gonzalez Park in Compton. Wandick is the grandfather of Autumn Johnson, 1, who was killed in a gang-related shooting while sleeping in her crib in February 2016.

Residents of Compton join city officials, clergy, members of law enforcement and other victims of gang violence at “Stop the Violence” rally in Gonzalez Park in Compton.

Compton City Council member Emma Sharif, right, hugs Earlene Diggs, 80, at the end of a rally to “Stop the Violence” in Compton. Diggs’ son and grandson were killed in gang-related shootings in the city.

Photographs of Andre McMihelk are part of a memorial in his honor along South Nestor Avenue in Compton. McMihelk was shot and killed while walking to a friend’s house on May 14.

Allen Reyes, 3, plays across the street from where Andre McMihelk was shot and killed on South Nestor Avenue in Compton. In the first five months of 2016, 13 people have been killed in Compton, compared with only four people killed during the same time last year, an increase authorities say is troubling.

Tracie Bryant visits a memorial for shooting victim Anthony Alexander next to Robert F. Kennedy Elementary School on West Caldwell Street in Compton. “He lay right there,” said Bryant, as she pointed to a dark spot in the middle of the road.

Jesus Sevilla rides his horse down West Caldwell Street where one of four killings occurred over the weekend of May 14-15, 2016, in Compton.