Local News in Brief : 4 Die, 10 Wounded in Gang Violence

A gang member was killed early Monday in South-Central Los Angeles in gunfire that ripped through four parked cars, capping a weekend of gang violence that claimed three other lives, including that of a 16-year-old boy, and wounded 10 people, Los Angeles police said.

The violence came in the wake of anti-gang sweeps in South-Central Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, which produced 935 arrests.

In the most recent slaying, police found the body of Eric Hicks sprawled in the street in the 1000 block of West 43rd Street, Detective John Bunch said. The 22-year-old known gang member had been shot once in the head.

Hicks’ attackers fled after the 2:45 a.m. slaying, leaving dozens of spent shell casings in the street. At least four cars parked at the scene were sprayed with bullets, he said.

“At least two weapons were used. One appeared to be an assault rifle and the other an Uzi,” Bunch said. “Right now we don’t know what the motive was or who the suspects are.”

The weekend sweeps were carried out by 240 officers in South-Central Los Angeles and 150 in the San Fernando Valley, Lt. Fred Nixon said. At least 468 of those caught in the sweeps were known gang members, Nixon said.