Gang Fight’s Victim--an Infant : 9-Month-Old Girl Held by Mother Is Shot in Head

A 9-month-old girl nestled in her mother’s arms was shot in the head Friday afternoon when members of rival street gangs got into a fight on a South-Central Los Angeles sidewalk, police said.

The baby was reported in extremely critical condition Friday night at UCLA Medical Center. No one else was struck when a 16-year-old boy opened fire with a .22-caliber pistol, detectives said.

The unidentified young gunman was the only participant held after 77th Street Division homicide detectives questioned several possible suspects. He was taken to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, where he was to be booked for investigation of attempted murder.

The shooting occurred shortly before 3 p.m. at a bus stop on Crenshaw Boulevard near 50th Street, where Linda Edwards, 36, was standing with her son, Gibron, 14, and another small child while holding the infant, Helen, in her arms.

With the group was Gibron’s 16-year-old friend. According to Detective Paul Mize, Gibron and his friend were dressed in blue, a uniform identifying them as members of the 87th Street Gangster Crips.

Shout Gang’s Name

They were spotted from a passing car by two boys who shouted, “V.N.G.!” That, said Mize, stands for Van Ness Gangster Crips, a rival group.

Mize said the 16-year-old boy pulled a gun and pointed it at the car, which soon returned, heading north along a southbound access road servicing the bus stop. The driver jumped out and began a fist fight with Gibron Edwards, Mize said.

Young Edwards’ 16-year-old friend then fired several shots, but hit only the baby.

The youths in the car sped away while Gibron Edwards and his friend jumped on a southbound RTD bus, Mize said. The distraught mother flagged down a passing motorist, who chased the bus, forced it to a stop and pushed his way aboard.

He was attempting to get the boys off the bus when police arrived to take them into custody.

Officers said they confiscated the weapon and a bloody jacket.

The mother, meanwhile, managed to wave down a taxi to take her wounded baby to the hospital, but the taxi driver attracted the attention of an arriving ambulance crew and the child was rushed to Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood.

Mize said the automobile was found abandoned in a yard about a mile and a half away. Three youths from that location were questioned at length, but released when they appeared to have no connection with the incident.

Gibron Edwards was also released, Mize said.

Mize said the citizen who pursued the bus and helped capture the fleeing youths apparently gave a fictitious name and address. Officers were unable to find him after he left the scene.

Also contributing to this story was staff writer Jerry Belcher.