War on ‘The Rotten Little Cowards’ : Irate Gates Pledges 1,000 Officers for Gang Sweeps

In the wake of one of the worst gang-related shooting incidents in the city’s history, Police Chief Daryl F. Gates angrily announced Saturday that he is preparing plans to flood the streets of South-Central Los Angeles with 1,000 additional officers on random nights in order to control “the rotten little cowards.”

Gates, who recently instituted sporadic anti-gang sweeps of 200 to 300 extra officers, also called for additional night courts, new courts in South-Central Los Angeles and passage of a state wiretap law as additional weapons in what he called a “war” against gang violence.

Gates spoke in reaction to a Southside drive-by shooting incident Friday night in which two suspected gang members in a sedan fired more than 20 shots at a group of more than a dozen people, killing one and wounding eight others. Moments earlier, the gunmen, armed with at least one semi-automatic weapon, had wounded two others nearby, police said.

The shootings took place as 200 LAPD officers slated to participate in Gates’ eighth anti-gang sweep since late February were attending a roll call at the Memorial Coliseum, just a few blocks north. It also came hours after Gates announced that gang violence had decreased dramatically since the sweeps--which have resulted in the arrest of more than 750 gang members in South Los Angeles.

“It is frustrating and I’m angry, and now they’re going to listen,” said Gates Saturday morning. “We are going to hit them with every single law there is in the books.”

“I mean this is Easter weekend, the holy weekend, and we have all this shooting going on on the holy weekend. People in South-Central Los Angeles want to go to church tomorrow and we’re going to make sure they feel safe when they go to church.”

The people in the group that was fired upon about 7 p.m. Friday had been standing together chatting at 46th Street and Raymond Avenue. Police said members of the group, who ranged from 4 to 29 years old, were apparently not affiliated with gangs.

Youth Fatally Shot

Police said Stacy Childress, 19, a South-Central Los Angeles resident, was killed.

Deshawn Holly, 4, was wounded four times--twice in the abdomen and in each leg. He was reported in stable condition Saturday at County-USC Medical Center. Two other victims were reported in fair condition and several others were treated and released from four hospitals.

Authorities said the group was attacked moments after the gunmen shot and wounded a rival gang member two blocks north at Raymond and Vernon avenues. Police, who refused to disclose the identity of the gang member, speculated that the shooting may have stemmed from a continuing dispute over which gang would sell drugs at a nearby park.

After that shooting, the gunmen drove south on Raymond Avenue in a brown or cream Cadillac or Buick sedan, and shot a second pedestrian, whose identity was withheld by police. Then, the gunmen reached the corner, where the large group was standing under a street lamp.

Lionel Robinson, 20, was among those gathered on the corner.

“We were just talking. . . . Next thing you know, a car came up and all you heard was gunfire,” Robinson said. “They just shot for nothing. I don’t know what it was about.”

Struck Four Times

Robinson, a student at Transwestern Institute, a business school in Los Angeles, was hit four times in the legs. He was in fair condition at County-USC Medical Center.

An eyewitness who escaped the gunfire described the scene on the corner as “what you hear about in Nicaragua and all those other countries. It was like that--people getting shot down. That’s how it is in Los Angeles now.”

The 24-year-old man, who said he was standing a few feet behind those who were shot, described the victims as innocent neighborhood residents. He asked to remain unidentified for fear of retaliation.

Although there have been more deaths in many drive-by shootings, Gates said that the number of victims wounded Friday night was apparently the largest in one single incident.

The city’s most deadly gang shooting occurred Oct. 12, 1984, when gunmen opened fire on a crowd of party-goers on West 54th Street. Five people were killed and five others were wounded. Street gang member Keith Tyrone (Ace Capone) Fudge was sentenced to death last year for his part in that shooting.

Chief’s Objective

Gates, who vowed “to obliterate the youth gangs” shortly after the 1984 shooting--and many times since then--said Saturday, “This is a war and it’s not going to end until we end the violence on the streets.”

In declaring his plans for increasing his anti-gang sweeps to include 1,000 officers, Gates provided few details about how he could mobilize about one-seventh of his entire police force to patrol the streets of South Los Angeles. Gates also provided no cost estimate, although he indicated that the officers would work on overtime so as not to deplete patrol strength elsewhere.

“We’ll put everybody on 12 hours,” Gates said. “That’s how we did it during the Olympics and we’ll do it here. If I don’t have enough overtime money, I’ll go to the City Council and demand it.

Mayor Tom Bradley said he “applauded” Gates’ proposal to increase the police force’s presence in gang-plagued South Los Angeles.

“Whatever it takes, I’m pleased the chief is prepared to do that,” Bradley said. “He has my full support. The blatant and ruthless assault upon innocent people is totally unacceptable.”

Southside City Councilman Robert Farrell said: “If it’s a matter of putting a motion on the floor, I’ll do it. I support the chief 100%.”

However, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky was more guarded, saying: “We’ll certainly give any request he makes serious consideration and look forward to seeing the specific dollar amounts.”

Legislature Attacked

At his Saturday press conference, Gates also leveled harsh words at the state Legislature and the court system for failing to provide the LAPD with adequate weapons to rid the city’s streets of gang violence.

State legislators, Gates declared, should get “off their fat asses” and approve wiretap legislation while judges should open their courts at night to help “clear out the County Jail so we can put more people into it.”

Gates added that County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn “may be right” in calling for assistance from the National Guard to help quell gang violence. But when pressed by reporters on whether he personally favors bringing in the National Guard, Gates backed off, saying: “I’m not calling for them at all. . . . Unfortunately, I don’t think the National Guard will be of help to us.”

Hahn reiterated his request for military assistance in a telegram Saturday to Gov. George Deukmejian.

“Just two days ago I wrote you about the need for two companies of military police to be sent to Los Angeles County as a show of force to help turn the tide against gang violence,” read Hahn’s telegram. “The urgency of this request was underscored even more just last night.”

Deukmejian’s press secretary, Kevin Brett, said the governor would consider the request if asked by the entire Board of Supervisors. “There has never been an instance in which a state of emergency has been called based on a telegram from one supervisor in one county,” Brett said Saturday.

Staff writers Marita Hernandez and Lynn O’Shaughnessy contributed to this article.