2 Wounded, 2 Arrested : Cambodians Trade Shots With Blacks at Housing Project

Two men were wounded during a protracted gun battle between black gang members and some Cambodian men at a South-Central Los Angeles housing project, police reported Thursday.

Officers seized two high-powered rifles and three handguns and arrested two Cambodian men after the gunfight, which began late Wednesday night.

Three hours after the initial confrontation in the 5200 block of Duarte Street, members of the Bloodstone gang returned and tried unsuccessfully to set fire to an apartment occupied by a Cambodian family by throwing two Molotov cocktails, Police Sgt. John Paige said.

After the firebombing attempt, five or six shots were fired into the dwelling but no one was hurt, he added.

Had Been Tension

“There has been some tension between the Cambodian residents and the blacks in the (Pueblo Del Rio) project. But there hadn’t been anything like this,” Police Sgt. Bernie Skiles said.

There are an estimated 100 Cambodians living in the project, which has more than 600 units.

Wounded in the initial shooting was Alfie Manor, 19, who was hit twice in the upper torso, and Bord Daniels, 31, described by Skiles as “a deaf resident and innocent bystander, who was caught in the cross fire” as he sat on a porch. He was wounded in the face.

Skiles said Manor was “a gang member, but possibly an innocent victim of the shooting.”

Both men were reported to be in stable condition at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center.

Create Disturbance

The shooting erupted after a group of gang members created a disturbance outside a Cambodian woman’s apartment, Skiles said.

“She asked them to quiet down, but things escalated and pretty soon some friends who were visiting her rushed out with weapons and the fight was on,” he said.

Paige said about 40 shots were fired by both sides in the initial gun battle.

Two of the woman’s friends, Reth Neang, 31 and Sok Sao, 28, described as out-of-town residents, were booked at the Newton Division station for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon and held in lieu of $22,000 bail.

Police seized an AK-47 semiautomatic assault rifle, an M-1 carbine and three handguns believed to have belonged to the Cambodians. The attempted firebombing and subsequent shooting occurred at another Cambodian resident’s apartment, police said.

Will Beef Up Patrols

As a result of the incidents, police said they would beef up patrols in the housing project at 53rd Street and Long Beach Avenue.

Usually only one police unit with two officers patrols the area, but on Thursday night and through the weekend, four additional officers from the Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) unit will be assigned there, in addition to four officers from the housing authorities.

Skiles said the case, including evidence against members of the Bloodstone gang members, will be presented to the district attorney. But no other arrests were made.

“We’ve got a lot more investigation to do,” he added.

“They want to be in charge of everything,” Paige said of the gang members. “If you challenge their authority in any way, this is what happens. They’re chumps.”