Gangs Blamed for Assault-Rifle Attack That Killed Boy, 7, Teen

A simmering argument between two gang factions fighting over a small section of South-Central Los Angeles was blamed Thursday for an assault-rifle attack that killed a 7-year-old boy and a suspected gang member.

First-grader Lamont Compton died Wednesday in a spray of bullets fired from two AK-47 assault rifles aimed at suspected gang member Melvin Morris Gentry, 17.

Gentry was fatally wounded in the attack, which took place just a few hours after he was released from the custody of juvenile authorities. Gentry was waiting for his first glimpse of his infant son when the shooting took place.

Los Angeles police investigators said the attack was apparently prompted by an argument between two Crips gang factions that claim adjoining territory in a low-income neighborhood near where the Harbor Freeway crosses Imperial Highway.

Gentry was allegedly a member of one of the factions. Police described Lamont as an innocent victim.

Gentry was shot in the stomach as he stood next to a car containing Lamont, his mother and another woman. The car was parked in front of an apartment complex at 11107 S. Broadway, the home of a relative of Gentry.

Lamont was playing in the back seat of the car when he was shot in the head and neck, police said. The mother was visiting friends who lived in the building.

Woman Injured

A passenger in the car, Judy Moore, 29, was hit in the arm by the flurry of bullets intended for Gentry, police said.

Two gunmen escaped by running through the apartment complex to a blue pickup truck that was parked behind the rental units, witnesses said.

After the shooting, an hysterical Elaine Compton, 36, hurriedly tried to drive Lamont and Moore to Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center. But she lost control and drove the car into a curb a few blocks from the shooting scene, causing several tires to blow out, police said.

The victims were taken to the hospital by ambulance.

No suspects in the attack had been identified late Thursday. But Police Lt. Doug Collison said he is optimistic that arrests will be made. He described the attack as a “payback” by one gang against the other.

Members of Lamont’s family, who live on San Pedro Street about a mile from the shooting scene, were reluctant Thursday to discuss the tragedy. But others described the boy as a friendly child who enjoyed playing with children living in the Broadway apartment complex when taken there by his mother.

Gentry had been in court a few hours before the shooting, Collison said. He did not know what charges Gentry had been facing.

Waiting to See Son

Derrick Miller, manager of the 16-unit apartment complex, said Gentry had been picked up from Juvenile Hall earlier Wednesday by the relative who lives in the Broadway apartment. He said the youth was waiting for his mother to come to the complex and bring his 2-week-old son, Melvin Jr.

“Melvin had been out of the youth home for just a couple of hours. He had never seen his new son before,” Miller said.

Miller said he had looked toward the front of the apartment complex a minute or so before he heard 10 shots ring out and had noticed Lamont playing on the back seat of his mother’s parked car.

“He was very happy. He was jumping up and down on the seat,” Miller said.

Funeral services for both victims were pending. Miller, a gospel singer and minister of music at the Peaceful Will Baptist Church, said he has volunteered to help arrange separate services for the two boys.

“I agreed to get involved because somebody’s got to care,” he said.