Boy, 13, Is Innocent Victim of Gang Shooting

He was a little boy who dreamed of growing up and becoming a cop.

But on Tuesday, police were searching for the killer of 13-year-old Mario Martinez, who died after being hit by a stray bullet fired by a gang member as he walked home from school in El Sereno.

The fatal shot was one of 15 fired by a gunman toward a car apparently filled with rival gang members about 3:15 p.m. Monday. As the shooting began, schoolchildren walking along the 2400 block of Richelieu Avenue were sent ducking for cover.

“He was an innocent victim,” said Los Angeles Police Detective Robert Suter. “When you have hoodlums killing someone that young, it’s upsetting.”

On Tuesday, others remembered Mario’s innocence.

“He was such a sweet person,” said friend Melody Gomez, 14. “I’d always tweak him on the cheek when I saw him. He went trick-or-treating with me last Halloween. He dressed up as a soldier.

“Why did this have to happen to him? Why him?”

Mario had joined El Sereno Junior High’s chapter of the California Cadet Corps, an ROTC-type group sponsored by the California National Guard. Each Thursday, he walked to school in his cadet uniform of sharply pressed navy blue pants and a khaki shirt.

“He was very proud of that uniform,” said Bob Trevino, who taught Mario’s English class and supervised his homeroom.

“He was a very sunny, down-to-earth child. We were having a good time studying Mark Twain. He added a lot to the class. I’m not going to forget him. No, I won’t.”

Principal Alfred M. Cobos said a special faculty “impact team” that deals with campus emergencies was prepared Tuesday to assist classmates upset by the shooting, which occurred about a quarter-mile south of the school. He said a psychologist and social workers are also available for the school’s 2,560 pupils.

Representatives of Los Angeles Community Youth Gang Services were also on campus Tuesday. Staff member Carmen Echeverria said five or six gangs operate in the vicinity of the junior high campus. “Right now, it’s pretty hot,” she said.

Ironically, an adult class designed to educate El Sereno parents about the gang threat is scheduled to conclude at 7 tonight on the campus. Sponsored by Los Angeles school and police officials and the office of City Councilman Richard Alatorre, it has attracted about 100 parents, officials said.

Mario’s sister, Patricia Martinez-Cummings, said Mario had been held back a year in school by his mother because she felt he was not ready for the junior high school environment.

“My mom was afraid to bring him here to school,” Martinez-Cummings said tearfully as she stood outside the school office Tuesday afternoon. “He was such a lovable boy. No gangs, no drugs. We bring him here and now he’s dead.”

Family members said Mario hoped to become a police officer. To avoid gangs that congregate at the El Sereno Recreation Center next door to the junior high, Mario walked to Lincoln Park in Lincoln Heights to play baseball, they said.

“He was very innocent,” said Margaret Perez, another sister. “He’d offer to work little jobs to raise money, bagging groceries at the Hillside Village Market and at Johnnie’s Market.”

On Tuesday, Johnnie’s Market owner Kim Kong launched a fund-raising campaign to help pay for Mario’s funeral.

The El Sereno Community Coordinating Council also plans to assist with the expenses, said Eddie Santillan, whose father heads the group.

“My nephew goes to school at El Sereno Junior High. It could have been him. This is too close for comfort,” Santillan said.

Family members said Mario was the youngest of eight children. Parents Arcelia and Alfanso Martinez have lived in El Sereno’s Hillside Village neighborhood for 27 years.

As Los Angeles and school district police went through the neighborhood looking for suspects in the shooting, the couple remained in seclusion in their Catalpa Street home, mourning the boy who wanted to become a cop.