Teen-Ager Gets Life Term in Good Friday Shootings
A teen-age gang member was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for one of the worst gang attacks in Los Angeles, the so-called Good Friday shootings that killed one person and wounded six others in 1988.
Faitdon Gipson, 19, a Crips gang member who was also found guilty of murdering a man a day before the shooting and several robberies, received the maximum punishment from Superior Court Judge James Bascue. Gipson was sentenced to terms totaling 67 years, eight months-to-life in prison as well as six consecutive life sentences, making him ineligible for parole for 86 years, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Dave Demerjin.
Gipson, who was 16 at the time of the shootings, will be held by the California Youth Authority until age 25 and then transferred to state prison.
The Good Friday shootings occurred during an outbreak of gang warfare that led Mayor Tom Bradley to order Police Chief Daryl F. Gates to “take back the streets” and deployment of 1,000-officer task forces into gang areas.
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