Jamaican Gang Link Is Played Down in Restaurant Shooting

Police investigators Friday were seeking the identity of the gunmen who invaded a Jamaican restaurant in Southwest Los Angeles and opened fire, killing one customer and wounding four others.

Meanwhile, a Los Angeles police detective involved in the investigation minimized the possibility that the shootings could be linked to a territorial war involving Jamaican gangs, called “posses.”

“There is absolutely nothing that tells me this is linked to any kind of Jamaican activity,” said South Bureau Lt. Doug Collisson. “At this stage, we have not made any connection to Jamaican gangs.”

Collisson added that “we are keeping an open mind about this case.”

Police said Newton Wayde Dacosta, 30, of Los Angeles was killed when two or three men armed with assault weapons burst into the Universal Quality Restaurant in the Crenshaw shopping district Thursday afternoon.

After ordering the lunch crowd to “Freeze!” the gunmen fired more than 20 shots at the customers in the restaurant at 4028 S. Buckingham Road, authorities said.

Paul McClean, 30, son of the restaurant owner, and Wilbert Brown, 40, were taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, McClean with a superficial wound to his head and Brown with a leg wound, authorities said.

McClean was treated and released, but Brown was still recovering from his injuries and listed in serious condition on Friday, said hospital spokesman Ron Wise.

Taken to Westside Hospital was Sandra Skeen, 38, who was treated for a superficial leg wound and released. A 42-year-old man, whose name was withheld, was taken to County-USC Medical Center with bullet wounds in his right hand and right knee.

Although police have ruled out robbery as a motive since no money was taken from the victims, homicide investigators complained they lacked substantive evidence or leads in the case.

“There is a lot of physical evidence at the scene, such as bullet casings, and we have sketchy eyewitness accounts that have to be flushed out,” Collisson said. “We’ll take it from there.”